ARLINGTON, Texas – Coming off a year in which the UT Arlington baseball team exceeded preseason expectations, head coach Darin Thomas has agreed to a four-year contract extension to remain at the helm of the Mavericks into the next decade.
 
"We're excited to have Coach Thomas remain the leader of our program," said Director of Athletics Jim Baker. "He has consistently produced a winning team on the field, has had players drafted to pursue professional playing careers every year he's been our head coach and has placed an emphasis on student-athlete success in the classroom. That was highlighted once again by the baseball team earning the Academic Achievement Award this spring for the highest two-semester cumulative GPA (3.2) of any men's team in the department."
 
The second-winningest coach in program history, Thomas – who has been at the helm of the program since 2008, but served as an assistant coach from 2001-07 – has guided UTA to 30+ wins in three of the last four seasons. This past year the Mavs posted a 32-26 overall record, marking the 25th time in program history that UTA has won 30+ games. He also led the Mavs to back-to-back conference championships and an NCAA appearance earlier this decade.
 
"I would like to thank President Karbhari and AD Jim Baker for the opportunity to continue to lead this program," said Thomas. "I'm excited about the future of UTA Baseball and I am ready to help this program continue to strive for championships in the Sun Belt Conference."
 
The Mavs, who went into the final weekend of Sun Belt Conference play this spring with a shot to take the West Division Regular Season Championship after being predicted to finish 4th returning just three starters from 2018, finished league play with a 17-12 record. The Mavs went on to defeat Sun Belt Tournament host and eventual SBC Champion Coastal Carolina in game one, before falling to ULM and the Chants to end the season.
 
This past season UTA also defeated a pair of ranked opponents (#17 Baylor, #19 TCU), picked up the 1,400th win in program history (Mar. 30; 9-7 win over South Alabama), secured Thomas' 350th career win (May 22; 9-8 (10 inn.) win over Coastal Carolina) and had the 64th player in program history selected in the MLB Draft, as senior right-hander Andrew Gross was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 39th round with the 1,178th overall pick. It represented the 11th-straight year UTA has had at least one player drafted.
 
In addition, out of the 10 UTA players who have played in the Major Leagues, Thomas has coached seven: Daniel Ortmeier (2000-02), Ryan Roberts (2002-03), Mark Lowe (2002 & 2004), Hunter Pence (2003-04), Adam Moore (2006), Dillon Gee (2005-07) and Michael Choice (2008-10).
 
Thomas arrived at 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.
 
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