MAVERICKS OPEN 2009 HOSTING 16TH ANNUAL UTA/HILTON INVITATIONAL

UT Arlington plays its season opener on Friday at 3 p.m. against Arkansas State

Senior Blake Holt is one of 27 returning players for the Mavericks.
 
Senior Blake Holt is one of 27 returning players for the Mavericks.
  

Feb. 17, 2009

UT Arlington/Hilton Invitational Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Mavericks open their 2009 season hosting the 16th annual UT Arlington/Hilton Invitational, Feb. 20-23, at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington. UT Arlington is 24-20 all-time in the tournament while winning or sharing six tournament titles (1994, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006).

OLD AND NEW FACES
- Arkansas State is making its seventh appearance in the tournament, marking the most by any opponent, while Texas State and Siena become the 23rd and 24th teams to participate in the tournament.

13 STATES AND COUNTING...
- Siena (Loudonville, N.Y.) will be the first team from the state of New York to compete in the UTA/Hilton Invitational. Overall, there have been 23 teams from 13 states that have traveled to Arlington to compete in the invitational. The following states have been represented: Texas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Oregon, Missouri, Colorado, Washington, Iowa and South Carolina.

MAKING IT TO OMAHA
- Eight teams that have played in the tournament have appeared in the College World Series in Omaha during the past 15 years, including Arkansas, Clemson, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Missouri State and Oregon State - who won back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007.

KNOCK ON WOOD
- The 2006 and 2007 invitationals have been the only tournaments affected by weather.

NOT QUITE READY
- The 2003 tournament was forced to be played at LaGrave Field - the home of the Fort Worth Cats - due to ongoing renovations at Clay Gould Ballpark.

NO-HITTERS
- Arkansas State's Taylor Fowler tossed the Invitational's only no-hitter on Feb. 19, 2005, against Northwestern.

CREAM OF THE CROP
- Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, the National League Rookie of the Year in 2005, NL Most Valuable Player in 2006 and NL Home Run Champion in 2006, played for Missouri State in the 2001 tourney.

UT ARLINGTON vs. THE 2009 FIELD
Arkansas State UTA leads, 34-33
Texas State TXST leads, 45-31
Siena 2009 will mark first meeting

MAVERICKS PICKED 6TH IN THE SLC
- Southland Conference head coaches and sports information directors have picked the UT Arlington Mavericks to finish in sixth place in the Southland Conference in 2009.

CHOICE NAMED TO SLC PRESEASON LISTS
- Sophomore center fielder Michael Choice has been named a Southland Conference preseason first team All-Conference selection by league head coaches and SIDs. Choice was one of 12 first team selections that the Southland Conference announced when releasing its preseason first and second team lists. Choice was the only sophomore named to the first team. Choice was then named to the Baseball America and Rivals.com preseason All-Conference team, as both publications previewed the Southland Conference.

FIVE OPPONENTS RECEIVE TOP 25 STATUS
- Five of UT Arlington's opponents, all from the Big 12 South, have been ranked in a preseason Top 25 or Top 30 poll as Texas A&M, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State all made an appearance in a preseason poll. UT Arlington's 2009 schedule includes 10 games against teams that appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament.

CHOICE NAMED TO WALLACE WATCH LIST
- After being named to five Freshman All-American lists in 2008, sophomore center fielder Michael Choice was named to the 2009 Preseason Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch List. The Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate baseball player.

THOMAS SEARCHING FOR WIN NO. 50
- After becoming the sixth head coach in Mavericks history prior to the start of the 2008 season, Darin Thomas followed with a 26-win season in his first campaign. Thomas will try to become the third head coach in UT Arlington history to collect win No. 50 in his second season at the helm. In fact, Thomas' 26 wins rank second all-time in school history for most wins in a first season as head coach.

The following is a list of UT Arlington head coaches and how long it took for them to reach win No. 50 and their overall record when reaching the milestone.

Head Coach Games Record at 50 wins
Jeff Curtis 94 50-44 (2nd season)
Clay Gould 94 50-44 (2nd season)
Fred Matthews 96 50-46 (3rd season)
Butch McBroom 107 50-57 (3rd season)
* Tom Beasley (16-34 record in two season as head coach)

TWENTY-ONE SENIORS BACK FOR 2009
- The UT Arlington baseball program not only returns 27 lettermen, they also have 21 seniors on their 2009 roster. The Mavericks have five players that are three-year lettermen and 22 players that joined the program last season. Of all the Mavericks opponents in 2009, only McNeese State has more than 23 returning lettermen, and just five opponents have at least 20 returning players.

MAVERICKS 18-22 ON OPENING DAY
- UT Arlington is 18-22 on Opening Day, including 9-8 in season-openers at home. Two of the Mavs season-openers (1979 & 2005) were on a neutral field. Last season the Mavericks posted the program's first shutout victory on opening day - also giving Darin Thomas a victory in his head coaching debut. The Mavericks 1-0 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock in 2008 marked the fastest opening day game (1 hour, 52 minutes) in UT Arlington history.

Since 2000, the Mavericks have won seven of their last 10 season openers at home, including two of the last three. The most consecutive season-openers the Mavericks have won is three (1981-83), while winning five of six openers from 1978-1983.

The Mavericks will host Arkansas State on Opening Day in 2009, marking the first opening-day matchup between the two programs in their 68th overall meeting. It will be only the fifth opener for the Mavericks at home since 1996.

SEASON-OPENERS
1969 @ Tarleton State L, 2-4
1970 vs. West Texas State L, 0-2
1971 vs. West Texas State W, 8-7
1972 @ TCU L, 0-1
1973 vs. Baylor L, 2-3
1974 vs. TCU L, 0-5
1975 vs. University of Plano L, 6-8
1976 vs. University of Plano W, 9-4
1977 vs. Baylor L, 1-2
1978 @ SMU W, 8-4
1979 * SMU W, 9-3
1980 @ TCU L, 7-10
1981 vs. TCU W, 4-3
1982 vs. Texas Tech W, 4-3
1983 @ Texas W, 10-6
1984 @ Rice L, 0-1
1985 @ Texas L, 0-13
1986 @ Texas L, 1-4
1987 @ Texas L, 2-7
1988 vs. Hardin-Simmons W, 14-1
1989 @ Lamar L, 4-7
1990 @ Texas A&M L, 2-3
1991 @ Houston L, 8-10
1992 vs. TCU W, 4-3
1993 vs. Louisiana Tech W, 2-1
1994 vs. TCU L, 7-8
1995 @ Texas A&M L, 3-7
1996 vs. Louisiana Tech L, 2-5
1997 @ Texas W, 9-4
1998 vs. TCU W, 9-6
1999 @ Texas L, 6-9
2000 @ Texas W, 3-1
2001 @ Arizona State W, 5-3
2002 vs. Centenary L, 0-6
2003 @ TCU W, 5-3
2004 @ Tulane L, 3-10
2005 * Texas A&M-Corpus Christi W, 5-4
2006 @ Louisiana Tech W, 7-2
2007 @ Texas L, 4-9
2008 vs. Arkansas-Little Rock W, 1-0

SPEAKING OF SEASON OPENERS...
- A year ago, head coach Darin Thomas became the third UT Arlington head coach to win their coaching debut defeating Arkansas-Little Rock 1-0 on Friday, Feb. 22. Clay Gould (2000-2001) beat Texas 3-1 on Feb. 1, 2000 and Fred Matthews (1971-1973) defeated West Texas on Feb. 26, 1971.

2008 SEASON OPENER ONE TO REMEMBER
- The Mavericks' 1-0 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock was the first opening-day shutout win in the 40-year history of UT Arlington baseball. It was also the fastest opening-day contest at 1 hour and 52 minutes. It was the third 1-0 opening-day game in 24 years (1984 loss @ Rice - 1972 loss @ TCU). The Mavericks also defeated Oral Roberts 1-0 in the 1979 home opener.

MAVERICKS 26-14 IN HOME OPENERS
- The Mavericks enter the 2009 season with a 26-14 all-time record in home openers. Since 2000, the Mavs are 6-3 in home openers, with consecutive wins the past two seasons. Last season's 1-0 shutout over Arkansas-Little Rock marked the Mavericks fourth home-opener shutout, with the other most recent shutout coming in 2004 against TCU (11-0).

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
- Doubling the Mavs win total in his first season as head coach was not the only accomplishment Darin Thomas provided the UT Arlington baseball program in his first season. Thomas helped guide the Mavericks to two semesters of a team cumulative grade point average over a 3.0. A total of 20 baseball student-athletes received recognition on the UT Arlington Athletic Director's Honor Roll and 18 were named to the Capital One/Southland Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. The start of the 2008-09 school year was equally successful as 22 baseball student-athletes were named to the UT Arlington Academic Honor Roll and the Mavericks as a team registered a 3.183 team grade point average.

VICTORIES OVER TOP 10 OPPONENTS
- UT Arlington has posted 21 victories over teams that have been ranked in the top 10 in the nation at the time of the contest. The Mavs added to their total with a 16-8 victory over then-No. 7 Texas A&M in 2008 at Clay Gould Ballpark (May 13).

05/13/08 vs. #7 Texas A&M 16-8
04/11/06 @ #6 Texas 6-3
03/08/05 @ #9 Texas A&M 6-4
02/15/05 @ #8 Baylor 9-6
01/26/01 @ #6 Arizona State 5-3
02/19/94 vs. #6 Oklahoma State 6-4
04/06/93 vs. #2 Texas A&M 8-6
03/10/93 vs. #8 Oklahoma State 26-13
03/28/92 @ #5 Texas 5-4
02/21/89 @ #7 Texas 2-0
03/05/88 vs. #10 Oklahoma 5-4
03/06/88 vs. #10 Oklahoma 11-10
02/16/85 @ #3 Texas 14-13
02/17/85 @ #3 Texas 7-1
02/19/83 @ #1 Texas 10-6
02/20/83 @ #1 Texas 8-5
03/20/81 @ #5 Texas 6-1
02/27/76 vs. #7 Oral Roberts 6-4
02/27/76 vs. #7 Oral Roberts 5-3
02/28/76 vs. #7 Oral Roberts 9-1
02/20/76 @ #10 TCU 3-0

MAVS BEGIN 36TH SEASON AT HOME FIELD
- UT Arlington opens its 36th season on its home field in 2009, carrying a 683-388 all-time record at what is now called Clay Gould Ballpark. The stadium which was previously named Allan Saxe Field, was re-named Clay Gould Ballpark on April 26, 2003, after the former UT Arlington standout player and coach.

UTA SIGNS EIGHT PROSPECTS FOR 2010
- Head coach Darin Thomas announced that eight student-athletes signed National Letters of Intent and will play baseball for the Mavericks beginning in the 2010 season. The signing class includes five high school prospects and three junior-college student-athletes.

Cody Dyvig
INF | L/R | Keller, Texas | Keller Central HS
- a first team 5A All-District selection and was the Keller Central HS Co-MVP and Team's Top Hitter... batted .429 with a .515 on-base percentage as a junior before batting .550 last summer with the Arlington A's.

Daniel Jordan
INF | R/R | Wiley, Texas | Wiley HS
- recorded a .432 batting average with three home runs and seven stolen bases in only 11 games before missing the rest of his junior season due to injury... 2007 second team All-District selection and named 2008 preseason first team All-State.

Daniel Garcia
C | R/R | Arlington, Texas | Arlington Martin HS
- batted .444 with a home run during his junior season... named first team All-District and was the District Defensive Player of the Year while leading Martin to an undefeated district season (14-0)... named the Arlington Martin Student of the Year.

Bryant Lopez
INF/OF | R/R | Copperas Cove, Texas
Copperas Cove HS | North Central Texas College
- was 22-of-24 in stolen bases as a freshman at North Central Texas... posted a .330 batting average while being named to Texas/New Mexico All-Star game in 2008... a first team All-District and honorable mention All-State pick in high school.

Brian Nephew
INF/OF | R/R | Arlington, Texas
Arlington Martin HS | McLennan C.C.
- hit six home runs with 35 RBI during freshman season at McLennan... batted .443 with seven homers, 61 RBI, 15 stolen bases, 14 doubles and three triples during senior season at Arlington Martin... first team All-District selection and named District M.V.P. as a senior in high school.

Jesse Payne
INF | L/R | Carrollton, Texas
Hebron HS | North Central Texas College
- batted .322 in 144 at-bats during freshman season at North Central Texas... finished with 10 doubles, two triples and two home runs in 2008... hit for the cycle against Vernon College on April 15... batted .370 with 12 doubles, two home runs and 37 RBI as a senior at Hebron HS in 2007.

Jake Pinchback
OF/INF | L/L | Katy, Texas | Seven Lakes HS
- two-time 24 4A All-District selection, earning first team honors in 2008 and second team honors in 2007... led high school to a Bi-District championship and to a third-place finish at the state tournament.

David Walsh
OF/INF | L/L | Coppell, Texas | Coppell HS
- a 6-5A All-District selection junior season while batting .357 with eight stolen bases... was one of 12 players from the Dallas Tigers summer baseball program that signed early with an NCAA Division I program.