WVU Baseball Bolsters Pitching Staff with 3 Transfers

WVU baseball continues to see their rotation for the 2024 season take shape, as three more players announced their commitment in recent weeks: left-hander Derek Clark and right-handers Luke Lyman and Hayden Cooper.

Clark stands 5-foot-8 and started 14 games for Division II Northwood University, pitching to a 2.78 ERA and managing one strikeout per inning. Right now, he’s throwing for the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, earning valuable experience against future major leaguers in the prestigious wooden bat league.

A rising senior, Clark has one year of eligibility remaining. The Mountaineers have plenty of young pitchers with the ability to start, but Clark gives them an arm with a proven track record, filling a void they’d missed in the absence of Blaine Traxel and Ben Hampton.

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Lyman is a lanky 6-foot-4 reliever who threw 26.1 innings in 2023, racking up 24 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA. A rising sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining, Lyman has plenty of time to develop into a lockdown reliever under Randy Mazey’s staff. 

Cooper served as both a starter and a reliever for SIU Edwardsville in 2023, compiling a 5.58 ERA in 37.1 innings and fanning 38 batters. He also took part in a combined no-hitter in May, the first for SIU Edwardsville at the Division I level. Cooper projects well as a long reliever, filling in the role that Mountaineers like Aidan Major took up last season, as Major eyes a move to the starting rotation.