As quickly as it began, pitcher Hayden Cooper’s career as a Mountaineer is coming to a close. His legacy includes just one season at West Virginia, but his path to this point represents far more than that.
In 2023, Hayden Cooper pitched 37.1 innings in 18 games for the SIU Edwardsville Cougars. He primarily played the role of a reliever, pitching one inning or less in eight games, but on five occasions, Cooper was trusted as a starter. He threw one win and three losses for the season, all in his first four appearances at the mound.
A year later, Cooper’s role remains roughly the same as a Mountaineer. In 14 appearances, Cooper has pitched 44.1 innings and recorded a 1-3 record with six starts.
The path to such an established role at the Division I level can come in many forms. For Cooper, it involved two seasons at Southeastern Community College in Burlington, Iowa.
Despite its significant distance from his hometown of Richmond Hill, Ga., SCC provided a great environment for Cooper to grow. After pitching a 2-1 record in five appearances for 19.2 innings as a freshman, Cooper saw his role increase dramatically as a sophomore, and he rose to the occasion.
In 12 starts and 13 appearances, Cooper improved his ERA from 5.95 to 3.57, posting 60 strikeouts in 68 innings and allowing 53 hits and 33 runs. That combined with Cooper’s 1.32 WHIP and 6-4 record and for the junior college Region XI runners up caught Division I attention, starting his journey to SIUE and, eventually, WVU.
As a Mountaineer, Cooper’s value is obvious. He has never pitched less than a full inning in 14 games and averages 3.15 innings per appearance, including his starts. In the first of two meetings against Pitt this year, coach Mazey trusted Cooper as the starter, and he did not disappoint, securing the 6-3 victory by allowing eight batters on base in four innings.
Friday night, in the final home series of both Cooper’s senior season and Mazey’s career as WVU’s head coach, Cooper started at the mound. He pitched well against Kansas State and showed he could measure up to one of the Big 12’s top pitchers, Owen Boerema.
Cooper pitched six innings, allowing three runs, six hits, and two walks and throwing six strikeouts, matching up with Boerema’s five hits, three runs, and two walks in seven innings with two strikeouts. Boerema hit two batters with the pitch, and Cooper hit one.
West Virginia fell to Kansas State, 4-3, to begin the series, giving Cooper his third loss of the year, but as the postseason approaches, Hayden Cooper stands out as a viable pitching option for Randy Mazey and the Mountaineers.
Cooper will be recognized alongside three other seniors on Saturday for Senior Day against Kansas State. The first pitch will be thrown at 3 p.m. at Wagener Field in Morgantown.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
