Sept. 18, 2009

ARLINGTON, Texas - Adam Moore became the ninth UT Arlington baseball player to make his major league debut, as he was the starting catcher for the Seattle Mariners Thursday night. Moore also becomes the eighth former Maverick to join the Major League ranks this year, as UT Arlington currently has five active players, two coaches and one big league manager.

Moore was the starting catcher for UT Arlington in 2006 as he helped lead the Mavericks to the 2006 Southland Conference Tournament championship and to an NCAA Regional appearance. Moore led the Mavericks batting .350 with 22 doubles, 10 home runs and 50 RBI. Following his junior season at UTA, Moore was a sixth-round draft pick by the Mariners in the 2006 MLB draft.

Moore made his big-league debut as the starting catcher for the Mariners while batting in the 9-hole against the Chicago White Sox. Moore caught all 14 innings as the Mariners came back to defeat the White Sox 4-3, with a walk-off base hit by Ichiro Suzuki in the bottom of the 14th inning.

In fact, Adam Moore's 14.0 innings caught are the most in an MLB debut dating back to 1954, according to Stats Inc. and Baseball-Reference.com. The previous high was 12.0 innings by Jackie Moore (Detroit, 1965), Danny Breeden (Cincinnati, 1969), Ramon Hernandez (Oakland, 1999) and Wyatt Toregas (Cleveland, 2009).

Moore went 0-for-5 at the plate with three groundouts, a fielder's choice and a pop out, before being lifted in the bottom of the 14th for pinch hitter Kenji Johjima.

UT Arlington was well represented in the Mariners' victory as Moore caught former Maverick Mark Lowe (2002-04) during the 11th and 12th innings as Lowe allowed two base hits and had two strikeouts.

MLB.com Release: Jim Street

ESPN Seattle: Mike Salk

The News Tribune: Ryan Divish

UT Arlington Players Making Major League Debut:
Adam Moore (2006) - MLB debut 9/17/09 - Seattle Mariners (catcher)
Trey Hillman (1982-85) - MLB debut 3/31/08 - Kansas City Royals (manager)
Hunter Pence (2003-04) - MLB debut 4/28/07 - Houston Astros (outfielder)
Ryan Roberts (2002-03) - MLB debut 7/30/06 - Toronto Blue Jays (infielder)
Mark Lowe (2002-04) - MLB debut 7/7/06 - Seattle Mariners (pitcher)
Daniel Ortmeier (2000-02) - MLB debut 9/5/05 - San Francisco Giants (outfielder)
John Lackey (1998) - MLB debut 6/24/02 - Los Angeles Angels (pitcher)
Steve Foster (1987-88) - MLB debut 8/22/91 - Cincinnati Reds (pitcher)
Dave Owen (1977-79) - MLB debut 9/6/83 - Chicago Cubs (infielder)