Rob Cooper

The 2023 baseball season is Rob Cooper’s 10th as head coach of the Nittany Lion baseball program. Cooper was selected as the 14th head baseball coach in Penn State history on August 9, 2013. Not shy about stating his ultimate goal of returning Penn State to Omaha in June, the Lions have made significant strides under his leadership.

Under his tutelage, 12 players have been drafted and 13 total have signed with MLB teams in the last five seasons with a full draft. However, his strong belief in the first part of the term “student-athlete” is perhaps the top reason he has proven to be an excellent fit at Penn State. Even with state-of-the-art facilities, the chance to take on elite competition and a program history that includes five trips to the College World Series, Cooper cites the value of a Penn State degree as one of the top reasons to play baseball at Penn State. 
 
In 2022, Cooper led the Nittany Lions to their first Big Ten Tournament appearance since 2012. Penn State finished the season with a 26-29 record, including an 11-13 mark in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, picking up a 5-2 win over No. 3 seed Iowa to open the tournament.
 
The Nittany Lions won Big Ten series against Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State, sweeping the Spartans. Penn State also earned a win in each series against Rutgers, No. 23 Maryland, Northwestern and Ohio State.
 
In non-conference action, the Nittany Lions’ wins included a 14-3 victory over NEC Champion LIU, an 8-4 win at West Virginia and a 19-6 win over Pitt in PNC Park, highlighted by a 14-run top of the ninth.
 
Penn State had two All-Big Ten selections, led by first team selection Matt Wood. The junior catcher won the Big Ten batting average title in the regular season (.395) and led the Nittany Lions in average (.379), hits (75), runs (55), homers (12), RBI (53), total bases (132), slugging percentage (.667), on-base percentage (.480) and walks (36). Wood’s incredible season included a 26-game hit streak and a 36-game reached-base streak. Wood was PSU’s first All-Big Ten first-team selection since Jordan Steranka in 2012) and Penn State’s 16^th first team selection in program history and the third catcher to earn first team honors.
 
Wood finished the season ranking fourth at PSU in runs (55), sixth in total bases (132), tied seventh in walks (36), tied eighth in hits (75) and RBI (53) and ninth in homers (12) and slugging percentage (.667).
 
Wood was selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2022 MLB Draft. Wood is the highest-selected position player in program history. The previous highest was catcher Ben Heath (fifth round, 153rd overall) by the Houston Astros.
 
Josh Spiegel was named All-Big Ten second team, batting .300 with a team-best 17 doubles. He had 10 homers and 43 RBI to go with 34 runs. Spiegel tied for the eighth-most doubles in a season at PSU, matching Chris Wright (2001). Anthony Steele was selected to the All-Big Ten freshman team after collecting 23 hits and 10 RBI.
 
In 24 Big Ten regular season games, Penn State collected 83 extra-base hits, including 43 doubles, 11 triples and 29 homers. Penn State set a program record with 19 triples in 2022, bettering the previous record of 18 in 1986, 2007 and 2010. Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino each had four triples, good to tie for eighth-most in a season at PSU.
 
On the mound, the Nittany Lions’ pitching staff set a program record with 503 strikeouts. Penn State tallied 21 games with 10+ strikeouts and 16 games allowing three or less earned runs. Six pitchers recorded at least 40 strikeouts, led by Travis Luensmann (78), Jordan Morales (60), Tyler Shingledecker (60) and Jaden Henline (56). Shingledecker paced PSU with seven wins, while Morales led the staff with 26 appearances. In 49 of 55 games, Penn State’s starting pitcher was a Pennsylvania native.
 
In Big Ten games, Luensmann had a 3.25 ERA, sitting fifth in the conference. Against Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament, Luensmann struck out seven in 3.1 shutout innings of relief. He also had eight strikeouts against Maine (2/25). Threw six innings and allowed no earned runs against Purdue (4/16) and Minnesota (4/23). Henline threw a complete-game against Michigan State (5/8), Penn State’s first complete-game since 2013.
 
Shingledecker made 21 appearances, collecting a team-high seven wins, with a 3.10 ERA. He held opponents without an earned run in 12 of his 21 outings. The lefty recorded 60 strikeouts and only 18 walks. Morales, after transferring from LaSalle, paced PSU with 26 appearances and tallied a 3-0 record with a 3.64 ERA. He collected 60 strikeouts and allowed only 12 walks. Did not give up an earned run in 15 of 26 appearances and one or less earned run in 22 appearances.
 
The Nittany Lions finished the 2021 season with an 18-24 record, playing against exclusively Big Ten opponents. The wins included a 3-2 victory over No. 18 Michigan on March 26 and a series sweep over Michigan State in which Penn State out-scored the Spartans, 39-13. The Nittany Lions also won two series against Rutgers. Penn State scored 10 or more runs in six games, Penn State’s most against Big Ten opponents since 2008 (8) and the most in a season since 2016.
 
Penn State led the Big Ten in doubles (93) and doubles per game (2.21), ranking 10th in the country in doubles per game. The Nittany Lions sat third in the conference in batting average (.269). Penn State hit 34 home runs, its most since 2012, and had five players with four or more homers.
 
Sophomore Matt Wood collected Second Team All-Big Ten honors, batting .295 with four homers and 21 RBI. Wood became the fifth All-Big Ten selection under Cooper. Senior Gavin Homer led the Nittany Lions with a .310 batting average, a .429 on-base percentage and tied with Johnny Piacentino for the team-lead in runs (30). Junior Justin Williams hit .302 and paced Penn State with 48 hits. Piacentino led the squad with eight homers and 32 RBI to go with a team-best .525 slugging percentage.
 
Senior Kyle Virbitsky paced the Penn State rotation with a 4.17 ERA, five wins, 77.2 innings pitched and 88 strikeouts. Virbitsky ranked seventh in the Big Ten in strikeouts and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40). His 88 strikeouts are tied for the 10th-most in a season at Penn State. Senior Conor Larkin earned three wins and 69 strikeouts in 63.2 innings and fellow senior Bailey Dees was responsible for four wins and 53 strikeouts in 66 innings.
 
The Nittany Lions continued their success in the classroom with a program-record 19 players earning Academic All-Big Ten accolades.


Penn State had four players drafted from the 2021 squad. Larkin was selected in the ninth round (272nd overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays. Williams was a 17th round selection (508th overall) by the Houston Astros and Kyle Virbitsky followed, being selected 518th overall by the Oakland A's. Bailey Dees was drafted in the 18th round (543rd overall) by the New York Yankees. All three members of the starting rotation were drafted, making Penn State one of only four schools to accomplish that in 2021.

It marked the third time in program history that Penn State had four or more players selected in a single year and the second time that Penn State had three pitchers selected in a draft. The Nittany Lions have had eight pitchers drafted since 2016. The four selections were double of any other Pennsylvania school and three of the draftees are Pennsylvania natives. 

Penn State was off to a 10-5 start in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remainder of the season. Penn State was among the conference leaders offensively, ranking second in on-base percentage (.394), slugging (.422), triples (7), doubles (30), third in batting average (.289) and walks (77), and fourth in scoring (6.7 runs/game) and runs (100). On the mound, Penn State ranked sixth in the NCAA with a 1.01 WHIP and also eighth with a 2.16 team ERA. The Nittany Lions also ranked 15th with 6.33 hits allowed per nine innings and 18th with a 3.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The 2019 season concluded with Penn State’s largest draft class since 2012, headlined by Dante Biasi’s selection in the sixth round by the Kansas City Royals. Biasi became the highest-selected left-handed pitcher in Penn State history, the highest-selected Nittany Lion pitcher overall since 2008 and the highest-selected Nittany Lion overall since 2010. Eric Mock was also drafted, becoming the fifth Penn State pitcher in the last four years to get drafted, while Ryan Sloniger became the 14^th player to get drafted in Cooper’s head coaching career including his time at the helm of Wright State. During a successful nine-year stint as the head coach at Wright State, seven of his players were drafted, including eventual Major Leaguer Joe Smith, and 12 more signed professional free agent contracts.
 
Biasi was the leader of Penn State's starting rotation in 2019, earning a place on the 2019 All-Big Ten Second Team. He posted a 2.55 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 14 starts. His 6.32 hits allowed per nine innings were the fewest in the conference, his ERA ranked fourth in the Big Ten, and he was one of the top strikeout pitchers during the regular season, ranking second in the Big Ten, 33rd nationally and fifth in a single-season in Penn State history. His 12.41 strikeouts per inning also ranked second in the Big Ten.
 
Behind Biasi, Penn State improved its win total by seven from the prior season, including a win over No. 21 Duke. The Nittany Lions also excelled in the classroom with 15 earning Academic All-Big Ten honors, tying for second overall in the conference.

In 2018, Justin Hagenman joined Sal Biasi, Jim Haley and Jack Anderson as recent Nittany Lion draft selections, while fellow pitcher and Cooper's first Penn State recruit signee, Taylor Lehman, signed as a free agent with the Phillies. Before Anderson's selection in 2016, just one Penn State pitcher had been taken in the previous six years. A member of Cooper’s first full recruiting class, Sal Biasi led Penn State during the 2017 season, earning All-Big Ten second team honors following a career year with 88 strikeouts – the most by a Nittany Lion pitcher since 2009 and tied for the ninth-most in a single-season all-time at Penn State.

Penn State baseball’s trip to Cuba prior to the 2016 season is perhaps the best example of Cooper’s commitment to the first part of the “student-athlete” term. The Nittany Lions attended academic lectures and toured Havana, becoming the first NCAA Division I team to compete against a Cuban National Series team, the first U.S. team at any level to defeat a Cuban National Series team, the first U.S. baseball team to play in Cuba since restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba, the second NCAA team to play in Cuba since restoration of diplomatic ties (Coastal Carolina men's basketball, August 2015) and the fifth NCAA Division I baseball team to compete in post-revolutionary Cuba. The harmony between academics and athletics was on full display, as multiple Penn State professors and a group of journalism students also joined the travel party.

The rare, once-in-a-lifetime experience helped bring a young Penn State team together, and the Lions went on to earn their first winning record (overall and in conference) since 2012. The starting lineup included at least three freshmen in all but six games and five to six freshmen in 19 games, and took on nine eventual NCAA tournament teams, including a three-game series at home against College World Series participant TCU. The Lions’ 28 wins were a 10-win improvement over the previous season, and its 12 Big Ten wins doubled the 2015 total. Haley and Anderson were the first drafted out of Penn State since 2012, and Anderson and senior outfielder Greg Guers became the program’s first All-Big Ten picks also since 2012. Pitcher Justin Hagenman became Penn State’s first Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American since 1997.

The Lions started making gains during Cooper’s second season in Happy Valley in 2015. Penn State played 10 games against top-25 opponents and rallied from a 7-0 deficit against No. 21 Indiana for their first win over a ranked opponent in three seasons. Penn State ultimately won one more conference game than the year before, despite the Big Ten enjoying arguably its most competitive season to date with a league-record five teams earning NCAA tournament bids.

Shortly after Cooper accepted the PSU head coaching position in 2014, the California native traveled to Taichung, Taiwan to serve as the head coach of USA Baseball's 18U National Team at the IBAF U18 World Cup. Cooper steered Team USA to an 8-1 record in World Cup play, including seven consecutive victories to win the gold medal.

Not long after the triumph in Taiwan, Cooper received one of the highest honors bestowed in the profession, as he was announced as the Rod Dedeaux USA Baseball Coach of the Year. With the honor, Cooper became just the 16th individual in the award's history to receive the accolade, joining the likes of Scott Brosius, Davey Johnson and Tommy Lasorda.

Cooper was also a member of the coaching staff for the 2007 and 2009 USA College National teams. The 2007 team earned a silver medal at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fourteen of the 20 players on the 2007 team reached the Major Leagues, including 2013 All-Star Pedro Alvarez. Fourteen of the 22 members of the 2009 team also reached the Major Leagues, including three-time All-Star Gerrit Cole.

Cooper brought an accomplished resume to Penn State that included three NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach at Wright State and five more at various stops as an assistant coach, including two trips to the College World Series with Miami (Florida). Cooper was twice named the Horizon League Coach of the Year and guided Wright State to three league tournament championships and two regular-season championships after the team suffered six losing seasons in the seven years before his arrival.

Cooper methodically built Wright State into a perennial contender in the Horizon League with seven 30-win seasons, two Horizon League regular-season titles, three Horizon League Tournament crowns and six Horizon League Championship game appearances. In nine seasons starting in 2005, Cooper accumulated a 286-230 record, including a pair of wins over No. 1-ranked opponents Virginia (3/5/10) and Georgia (3/24/09). He was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011.

Cooper saw 47 players earn all-conference accolades and 18 garner all-newcomer honors. He also produced five Horizon League Players of the Year, one Pitcher of the Year, three Relief Pitchers of the Year and two Newcomers of the Year.

The 2011 season saw Cooper record his 200th coaching victory and earn the Horizon League Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive year. The Raiders won their second-straight Horizon League regular season title with a 16-7 record, claimed the league tournament crown by winning three-straight games and advanced to the NCAA Regionals in College Station, Texas. In 2010, the Raiders won the Horizon League regular-season title with a mark of 17-6, the first regular-season conference crown for the program since the 1997 squad won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference title. The 2009 Wright State Raiders compiled a 33-30 overall record and returned to the NCAA Tournament following a Horizon League tournament championship.

At season's end in 2008, Cooper watched as a school and Horizon League-record three players were drafted during the 2008 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. In 2007, Wright State enjoyed one of the most prolific offensive seasons in school history as it broke three career records and 11 single-season school records. Ross Oeder was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and garnered second-team All-America Honors. The 2006 edition of the Raiders set six school records and posted the most season wins in five years. Cooper's squad defeated nationally-ranked TCU on the road, topped national-powerhouse Notre Dame in South Bend and was on the brink of an upset against eventual National Champion Oregon State in the NCAA Corvallis Regional.

Before arriving at Wright State, Cooper served as the hitting coach, recruiting coordinator and bench coach at Oral Roberts University. A perennial power of the Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League), ORU advanced to the finals of the NCAA Austin Regional in 2004, beating TCU twice before falling to Texas, 7-3 and 7-5. The Golden Eagles finished with an overall mark of 50-11 in 2004 and had five players selected in the Major League Baseball draft, two honored as All-Americans by the ABCA and three named All-Americans by the College Baseball Insiders website.

Cooper began his coaching career at national power Miami, spending two seasons (1994-95) as a student/graduate assistant on the Hurricanes' staff. While at Miami, Cooper helped the Hurricanes to College World Series berths in 1994 and 1995. Cooper spent the 1996 season as an assistant and team academic coordinator at Wake Forest, then moved on to Tulane for the next two seasons, serving as the Green Wave's hitting coach. In 1997, the Green Wave won the Conference USA regular-season crown, and in 1998, they advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Cooper left Tulane following the 1998 season and returned to Sacramento City College, where he starred in the early 1990's before lettering at Miami in 1993.

Along with his college coaching experience, Cooper also was an associate scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1990-92 and has been selected to four coaching stints with USA Baseball in 2000, 2007, 2009 and 2013.

Cooper earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Miami in 1994 and a master's in sports sciences/administration from Miami in 1996. He is married to his wife, Maureen, and has two sons, Jake and Tyson.