ARLINGTON, Texas â€" UT Arlington's baseball and softball programs came together for the First Pitch Fundraiser on Saturday at the Justin D. Wilson Hitting Facility, capping a full day of events that included the first-ever UTA Baseball Alumni Game and UTA Softball Hit-A-Thon.

The fundraising event, catered by Fuzzy's Taco Shop, included Q&A sessions with both baseball coach Darin Thomas and softball coach Kristie Fox. Each coach previewed the upcoming season and gave a recap of progress made during both fall and spring camps.

In all, the event raised $9,390 for the teams. Additionally, a former baseball alumnus contributed another $10,000 at the conclusion of the event toward the baseball clubhouse project to bring the total for the evening to $19,390.

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Student-athletes from both teams also took questions and expressed their anticipation for the upcoming season. Attendees to the event were also treated to a prize drawing, in addition to an auction at the conclusion of the program.

"It was good to have this collection of guys come back and be a part of today," Thomas said at the fundraiser. "This is the first time we have been able to get all of this together and it seemed like everyone had a great time. Hopefully this is something we can continue to grow as we move forward."

UTA Baseball kicked off the day with a host of former players returning to Clay Gould Ballpark for the program's first-ever Alumni Game. Players such as Michael Choice, Preston Beck, Craig Martin, Dillon Gee, Matt Otteman, Daniel Ortmeier and Ryan Walker were just some of the returnees who saw time in the game itself.

Those players, in addition to other alumni attendees, also took place in a home run derby prior to the game with Choice taking that title with seven dingers in just 10 swings.

Legendary UTA coach Butch McBroom also trekked back to the ballpark to coach the Alumni Team, but despite a late rally by the alums, the current Mavs still took a 14-8 win in wire-to-wire fashion.

Christian Hollie was the standout of the day offensively for the modern-day Mavs, driving in five runs in his first three at-bats. He connected on a pair of two-run homers in each of his first two trips to the plate.

The Mavs are now less than two weeks away from opening up the 2016 season when they host the Clay Gould Classic beginning Feb. 19 at Clay Gould Ballpark. UTA will face nationally-ranked Oklahoma State in the season opener and will play both the Cowboys and Stephen F. Austin twice apiece over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the UTA Softball team held an open practice allowing fans to get their first look at this year's squad. Following an intrasquad scrimmage, the team took part in a Hit-A-Thon fundraiser. Each player on the squad participated in the event with proceeds having gone directly to the team.

"The girls are just excited to play against somebody else," Fox said. "We've been doing a lot of intrasquad work and they are ready to see what they can do against other teams and pitching."

The Mavericks open up the 2016 season on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. against Texas Southern at Allan Saxe Field. That game will kick off the UT Arlington Invitational with games running all weekend. UTA and Texas Southern will be joined by Northern Colorado, Missouri State and Detroit.

Fox's crew will also host the Maverick Invitational and the Maverick Classic later in the season. The Maverick Classic will be highlighted by Texas and Arizona's participation in the tournament field. The Wildcats, Fox's alma mater, are ranked No. 13 in the NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll prior to the season.

"Making sure we have competitive teams come in here with Texas and Arizona to really help prepare us for a tough conference schedule is a big deal," Fox said. "The weather, location and facilities are things that really draw teams to our place."