Darin Thomas Position: Head Coach Experience: 4th Year Alma Mater: Oklahoma Christian, 1988

Darin Thomas File

Entering his fourth season as UT Arlington head baseball coach, Darin Thomas has never been afraid to challenge his team with a daunting schedule.

This year, Thomas' 11th as a member of the Mavericks staff, is no different. UTA plays five games against preseason top-8 teams including a couple against No. 1 TCU.

In taking the high-risk scheduling approach, Thomas has found the reward side several times. Through three seasons, Thomas has led the Mavericks to nine wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including Minnesota, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. In conference play, Thomas' teams have also taken down ranked opponents Texas State and Southeastern Louisiana. The sweep over Minnesota in 2009 was the program's first sweep over a ranked opponent in 25 years. Thomas has defeated every Big 12 opponent the Mavericks have faced at least once.

Thomas is 85-88 in three seasons as head coach after leading the Mavericks to back-to-back 29-plus-win seasons. UTA also reached the final day of the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time since 2006, falling in the semifinals. Thomas also continued his unparalleled success with his student-athletes in the classroom while tallying a 3.0 team GPA in both semesters in 2009-2010. The UTA baseball program now has finished with a cumulative 3.0 team GPA in six of seven semesters since Thomas became head coach during the 2007-2008 school year.

The tougher competition Thomas schedules - the Mavs finished with the second-toughest non-conference schedule in 2010 - has helped his players prepare for the next level. The Oakland Athletics selected Michael Choice, the 2010 Southland Conference Player of the Year, with the 10th overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft. Choice also made several All-America teams. Furthermore, MLB teams drafted each of the three conference starting rotation members - Rett Varner in the sixth round by the Florida Marlins, Jason Mitchell in the 15th round by the Kansas City Royals and Logan Bawcom in the 17th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Under Thomas' leadership, 37 Mavericks have either been drafted or have been signed by a Major League Baseball organization over the last nine seasons. He has coached 34 All-Conference performers (15 first-team selections), 17 SLC All-Tournament team selections, two SLC Tournament Most Valuable Players, two SLC Players of the Year, three SLC Hitters of the Year, two SLC Newcomers of the Year, four SLC Batting Champions, one SLC Freshman of the Year and one SLC ERA Champion. In addition, out of the nine UTA players who have played in the Major Leagues, Thomas has coached six, including Daniel Ortmeier (2000-02), Ryan Roberts (2002-03), Mark Lowe (2002, 2004), Hunter Pence (2003-04), Adam Moore (2006) and Dillon Gee (2005-07).

For a second straight year, four of Thomas' players were named to the SLC All-Academic team - Jason Mitchell and Rett Varner as first-team selections and Jordan Vaughn and Mark Picca as second-team picks. Mitchell also earned the distinction of Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Additionally, 15 UTA baseball players were selected to the Capital One/SLC Spring Commissioner's Honor Roll.

The 2010 campaign was one of turnover. The Mavericks entered the conference season without a solidified starting rotation while breaking in six new starters at position players. Still, the team finished one good day away from the NCAA Tournament and with several new marks in the record book. By the end of the season, UTA's pitching staff broke the program record for strikeouts in a single season. Michael Choice won his first Southland Conference batting crown while getting walked a mind-boggling 76 times (leading the NCAA in the category) and reaching base at a .568 clip. Choice also broke the all-time program record for home runs. True freshman Preston Beck broke the rookie hitting streak record, hitting safely in his last 20 games. He opens the season with a chance to track down Andrew Kainer's mark of 36 consecutive games with a hit.

In addition to being named Southland Conference Player of the Year and Hitter of the Year, Choice also garnered First-Team All-Southland Conference status. Mitchell and junior catcher Chad Comer were named Second-Team All-SLC. Varner, Beck and senior designated hitter Steffan Guest all made honorable mention for all-conference.

Thomas' squad saw many highlights in 2009, including leading the Southland Conference in ERA (4.38) and tying for the league-lead in fielding percentage (.971). Individual honors were achieved at an all-time clip with Matt Otteman leading the conference in batting average (.432), Nathan Long leading the conference and breaking the school's single-season strikeout record (104), Michael Choice becoming the first UTA player and only the second player ever from the SLC to play for Team USA and Kainer breaking the school and SLC all-time hitting streak record with a 36-game streak.

Following the season the Mavericks had two players chosen in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft with Nathan Long going in the 26th round to the Oakland Athletics and Rett Varner being taken in the 34th round by the Chicago Cubs. Long signed a contract with the Athletics. Weeks following the draft, three additional Mavericks signed professional contracts as Andy Sauter (Milwaukee Brewers), Matt Otteman (Seattle Mariners) and Andrew Kainer (Florida Marlins) all inked free agent contracts.

Otteman, Kainer, Long and Choice were named First-Team All-Southland Conference. The UTA baseball program hadn't had four first-team All-SLC selections since 1992. Otteman, Kainer and Choice also finished in the top four in the league in batting average. Otteman won the batting crown with a .432 mark, Kainer was third with a .417 average and Choice ranked fourth in the conference at .413.

Thomas' pitching staff shined on the mound, leading the league in ERA for the first time since 1988. The Maverick pitchers ranked third in the conference with 410 strikeouts - a school record before the team shattered the mark in 2010 by registering 464. Three UTA pitchers ranked among the top nine in ERA. Long (3.76) ranked sixth, Ryan Robinson (3.89) was eighth and Varner (3.95) was ninth.

The Mavericks also produced the best ERA in the conference during league play with a 4.00 ERA in 2009. UT Arlington led the SLC with a .976 fielding percentage in SLC games. It was the fourth time UTA has led the league in fielding percentage and the first since 2004.

The Mavericks ranked 25th in the NCAA in ERA and were 31st in the country in fielding percentage. In fact, Thomas' players ranked in 12 of the NCAA's top 40 statistical categories, which includes Otteman ranking sixth in triples (8), eighth in batting average(.432), and Long finishing 26th in the country in strikeouts (104). Long's 104 strikeouts led the conference, marking the first time a UTA pitcher had recorded the most strikeouts in the SLC since 1986.

Thomas set UTA baseball history when the Mavericks completed four series sweeps over SLC opponents. That included back-to-back road-series sweeps over Nicholls (Mar. 28-30) and Central Arkansas (Apr. 17-19). It was the first time since 1994 that the Mavericks had swept consecutive road series.

Thomas led the Mavericks to a 20-7 record at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington in 2009, marking only the third time a Mavericks team had won 20 games at home since 1994. It was the program's first 20-win home season since 2004. The Mavericks' .741 winning percentage was the third highest home-field mark in the past 16 seasons. UTA won four games on its home field over nationally-ranked opponents (No. 25 Minnesota, No. 7 Baylor, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 25 Texas State).

Thomas collected his 50th career win with a 4-3 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on May 1, 2009, becoming the third UTA head coach to record his 50th career win during his second season.

Four of Thomas' players were named to the SLC All-Academic team. Otteman as selected a first-team member and as a 2009 SLC Scholar Athlete of the Year. A total of 21 UTA baseball players were selected to the Capital One/SLC Spring Commissioner's Honor Roll.

In his first season as head coach, Thomas pointed the UT Arlington baseball program back in the right direction by doubling the program's victory total from the previous season, defeating three nationally ranked teams, improving in 18 statistical categories from the prior season, guiding his program to a cumulative grade point average better than 3.0 and with 24 student-athletes named to the Athletic Director's Academic Honor Roll.

Thomas, the sixth head coach in UT Arlington history, began his first season at the helm with a 1-0 victory at Clay Gould Ballpark against Arkansas-Little Rock on Feb. 22. He became the third UTA coach to win his debut and it was the first 1-0 opening-day victory in program history. The contest was also the fastest opening-day nine-inning game in UT Arlington history (1 hour, 52 minutes).

Thomas guided the Mavs to a 26-31 overall mark, including a sixth-place finish in the SLC with a 16-14 league record. Competing against a demanding non-conference schedule, Thomas led the Mavs to mid-week non-conference victories at home against No. 14 Oklahoma State (7-3) and Big 12 regular season champion, No. 7 Texas A&M (16-8). The day following his team's victory against the OSU Cowboys at Clay Gould Ballpark, Thomas and the Mavericks captured a 4-3 road victory against Texas. UT Arlington completed the week winning two of three games against Southeastern Louisiana in SLC play.

The Mavericks were rewarded for their excellence receiving National Team of the Week accolades from CollegeBaseballInsider.com.

Thomas led UT Arlington to 12 wins during a 14-game stretch, which included a season-best seven-game win streak. UT Arlington's seven-game streak began with a three-game series against McNeese State in Lake Charles, La. It was the first time the Mavs had swept McNeese on the road in the program's 41-year history.

The Mavericks had several individual successes under Thomas in 2008, including senior David McLeod leading the NCAA in the Toughest to Strikeout statistical category. McLeod, a four-year letterwinner, fanned just five times in 200 at-bats. McLeod finished his UT Arlington career playing striking out just 35 times in 541 at-bats in 147 games.

Thomas' first season as head coach will also be remembered as the breakthrough season for Choice, who was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and was named to five Freshman All-American teams. A Second-Team All-SLC selection, Choice led the Mavericks in all three triple-crown categories, batting .376 with seven home runs and 51 RBI.

Under Thomas' tutelage in 2008, three Mavericks were among the league's top 10 in batting average, the most by any team in the conference. Choice finished third in the conference (.376), while McLeod ranked fourth (.375) and senior Danny Slinkman (.370) was seventh.

In addition, Thomas coached a total of 18 players in 2008 that were named to the Capital One/Southland Conference 2008 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll.

Before Thomas became head coach of the Mavericks in 2008 he spent six seasons as the associate head coach (2002-2007) and one season as an assistant coach (2001) on the UTA coaching staff. In 2006, UTA led the conference in doubles (123), ranked second in hits (640) and total bases (878) while ranking third in runs (358) and RBI (319).

SLC Newcomer of the Year Adam Moore led the way offensively, hitting .350 with 10 homers, 22 doubles and 50 RBI.

Thomas returned to his role as the team's hitting coach and third base coach in 2005, after spending the two previous seasons (2003-04) as the team's pitching coach. Thomas served as the team's hitting coach and third base coach in his first two seasons (2001-02). Under Thomas' guidance, the 2004 pitching staff had to replace all three conference starters from the previous year and nearly lowered its ERA by a full point. The 4.03 ERA at the time was the 12th lowest ERA in school-history and the lowest team ERA since 1992.

In 2003 Thomas helped mentor Hunter Pence, who played three seasons for the Mavs before being selected in the second round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros with the 64th overall selection. Pence, the 2004 SLC Player/Hitter of the Year, became the highest player drafted in UT Arlington history and became the first UTA player to make an MLB All-Star team. Pence ranks fourth on the Mavericks' all-time career batting average list (.371), while also recording 187 base hits, 23 doubles, 11 triples, 16 home runs, 77 RBI and 100 runs scored.

Thomas was instrumental in 2002 as the Mavericks hitters had their best season collectively to date, breaking then-team records with 612 hits, 125 doubles and 340 RBI. As a team, the Mavericks hit .305, just .007 off the pace of the Southland Conference leader that season. It also marked the first time that UT Arlington had hit better than .300 since the 1985 season.

Thomas helped the offense improve in each of his first two seasons at UT Arlington. The Mavs jumped from a .261 team batting average in the year before Thomas arrived, to a .283 average in 2001 and to a .305 team batting average in 2002.

As a recruiting coordinator, Thomas brought in the nation's 56th best recruiting class in 2003, according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, just after bringing in the 35th best in 2002.

Success was imminent for Thomas in his first year as pitching coach since first years always seem to be successful whenever Thomas and UT Arlington are involved. In his first year in a Mavericks uniform, Thomas helped lead the Mavs to a SLC Tournament title and to claim its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

It was no coincidence that UT Arlington's rise back to the national tournament came at the same time Thomas arrived in Arlington. It seems that wherever he goes, the teams he coaches win.

He came to UTA following nine years as an assistant coach at Seward County Community College, where he assisted National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame Coach Galen McSpadden.

While at SCCC, Thomas helped lead the Saints to a 346-144 (.706) record while being ranked in the Top 20 nationally during seven seasons. Seward County captured four Jayhawk West Conference crowns, four runner-up finishes and one Sub-Region VI Tournament title.

During his coaching tenure at Seward County, 58 players who either played for or were recruited by Thomas went on to be drafted or sign free agent contracts with a Major League organization. In addition, Thomas mentored 63 All-Conference selections at SCCC.

Before coming to Arlington, Thomas spent his previous four summers as the head coach with the semi-pro Liberal Bee Jays of the Jayhawk League, where he worked with late UT Arlington coach Clay Gould for three summers. During the 2000 season, Thomas and the Bee Jays marched through the National Baseball Congress National Tournament to the NBC World Series National Championship. Among the players on that team were several players who Thomas has coached with the Mavericks, including Daniel Ortmeier, Dave Engelson and Aaron Pullin. Following his team's 7-0 run in the World Series, Thomas was named the NBC National Coach of the Year.

Thomas began his collegiate playing career at Seward County where he earned All-Conference and All-Region VI honors as a right-handed pitcher in 1986. He helped lead his team to a Jayhawk West Conference title and to the program's first-ever Sub-Region VI Tournament championship by going 11-1 on the mound.

Thomas' 1986 season ranks in several all-time SCCC single-season record books, including third in complete games (10), fourth in winning percentage (.917), tied for fourth in wins (11) and 10th in innings pitched (79). He remains the program's all-time leader in career winning percentage (13-2, .867). Thomas went on to Oklahoma Christian University and earned All-District IX honors both seasons for the Eagles.

Thomas earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and physical education from Oklahoma Christian University in 1989 and a master's degree in sports administration from Fort Hays State University in 1996. He began his coaching career in 1990 at Oklahoma Christian High School before moving to Seward County CC in 1991.

Thomas and his wife, Jean, have three children, Megan, 17, Ryan 12, and Reed, 9.