SAN ANTONIO –Ryan Aguayo joins UTSA baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach, head coach Pat Hallmark announced Tuesday. He will coordinate the offense and work with the defense.
"I am excited Ryan has joined our staff at UTSA," Hallmark said. "His hard work in recruiting is second to none and his ability to coach hitters is evident in our offense leading the conference in just about everything last season."
Prior to UTSA, Aguayo served as an assistant coach at Incarnate Word from 2015-19, including the previous two with Hallmark, primarily as the hitting coach. He also worked with the infielders and recruiting. Under his guidance, three players earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America honors over the last two seasons.
Outfielder Ridge Rogers earned a spot on the team after the 2018 campaign, after posting a .350 (72-for-206), with 34 runs scored and driving in 34 runs. Catcher Taylor Smith hit .322 (49-for-208), including 16 home runs, 11 doubles and four triples with 42 runs scored and 35 RBIs, securing his spot on the 2019 team. Third baseman Antonio Valdez was named to the 2019 squad after posting a .302 average (65-for-215), including 14 doubles, six triples and four home runs, scoring 52 runs and driving in 31.
"I am blessed to be given this opportunity by head coach Pat Hallmark and Dr. Lisa Campos," Aguayo said. "I am excited to start a new challenge here at UTSA. We as a staff are ready to get to work with our student-athletes.
"There is a lot of hard work to be done and we believe the ceiling is high for this baseball program. The city of San Antonio, faculty, staff and our fans should be excited for what's to come."
In Aguayo's first season with the Cardinals, the defense posted the third-highest fielding percentage in school history, while the offense's batting average and slugging percentage improved from the previous campaign. In 2019 UIW established a Division I era school record's in defense and batting average. The Cardinals committed just 50 errors in 2,209 chances and posted a .305 (622-for-2,038) team batting average with 64 home runs in 59 games. They led the Southland Conference in all three categories, ranking 14thin the nation in batting average, 31stin fielding percentage and 47thin home runs.
Aguayo served as an assistant on the Cuesta College staff in 2013-14, which claimed consecutive conference championships and the school's 18thand 19thpostseason berths in a row. More than a dozen players advanced to play for major college programs.
He served as the associate head coach from 2011-14 with the San Luis Obispo Blues of the California Collegiate Summer League helping guide the team to back-to-back CCL championships in 2011 and 2012. Aguayo played for the Blues from 2008-10 and was named to the All-CCL team twice.
Aguayo began his collegiate career at Cal State Fullerton before transferring to Cuesta College where he assisted the Cougars to a 24-14 record and a Western State Conference Championship title in 2009. He hit .401 with an on-base percentage of .470, scoring 57 runs and driving in 56. His list of postseason awards included, All-Southern California First Team, all-state honors, Western State Conference Player of the Year and his team's Most Valuable Player.
After a successful 2009 season, he transferred to New Mexico State and played 118 games in two seasons, compiling a .351 average (156-for-445), with 44 doubles and 17 home runs. He scored 124 runs and registered 125 RBIs. As a junior, he garnered All-WAC honors and was a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award – given annually to the nation's top shortstop - after recording 92 hits, including 14 doubles and 12 long balls and scoring 76 runs. He earned All-WAC academic honors in 2010 and graduated from New Mexico State with a bachelor's degree of individualized studies with a minor in business associates, marketing and management.
In high school, Aguayo played shortstop and second base for the Servite Friars in Anaheim, California. He was a two-time all-league honoree and was the 2006 Orange County All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. During his senior campaign, he helped lead the Friars to an 18-7 mark, capturing the league championship. He played on the USA Youth National team in 2004 and was a selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2006 Amateur Draft.
What They Are Saying About Aguayo
"Ryan has done an awesome job of recruiting and developing players. He's had my respect long before his UIW days. He's hard working, loyal and can really coach young men. He's one of the top up and coming assistant coaches in the country." – Seth Thibodaux, Nichols State Head Coach
"Having known Ryan for over 10 years as a player and coach, UTSA is getting a tremendous person and great young coach. He will be a great leader of young men. I have nothing but high praise for Ryan and wish the program much success." - Chal Fanning, Cal Poly Assistant Coach
"Ryan was an extremely important piece of the turnaround that occurred at UIW. As anyone in college athletics knows, you're only as good as the players that are on your roster. Ryan did an unbelievable job at bringing in an extremely talented roster in a not so easy situation to recruit to. Ryan is the definition of hard work and when you pair his work ethic with his ability to diagnose talent and build relationships, you easily see why he has had tremendous success so early in his career. UTSA is lucky to have a recruiter like coach Aguayo." – Nick Magnifico, Southern Illinois Assistant Coach
