MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU AD Wren Baker announced Monday that the 2024 baseball season will be Randy Mazey’s final year as head coach at WVU.
But rather than step down, Mazey is “stepping aside,” and will remain deeply involved with the program as he transitions to a senior advisor role after next season.
“I want to thank Coach Mazey for building a winner and a conference champion here in Morgantown,” Baker said. “From what he inherited, with virtually no major college baseball facility, to the program he has built, Mountaineer Nation should be very proud of his achievements. I will certainly be there and looking forward to his final season leading the Mountaineers.”
Associate head coach Steve Sabins will succeed Mazey following the end of the 2024 season. Sabins has also signed a contract that runs through the 2029 season.
“I would like to thank President Gee, Wren Baker, and Matt Wells for their tremendous support of our baseball program,” Mazey said in a press release. “I would also like to thank Oliver Luck and Keli Zinn for giving me the opportunity to come to WVU and bring our baseball program to a Top 25 level. I am not stepping down, I am stepping aside after the 2024 season to let Coach Sabins, Coach Ginther, and Coach Garcia continue to take WVU Baseball to levels it has never reached before. I am 100% confident that Coach Sabins and this staff have the ability to do just that, and I am just as excited for the future of Mountaineer baseball now as I have ever been.”
Mazey carries a 336-250 record at WVU, and the Mountaineers have made three NCAA Regional appearances during his tenure. The 2019 Morgantown Regional was the first time WVU hosted a baseball regional since 1955.
After leading his team to a share of the Big 12 regular season title and the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament in 2023, Randy Mazey was awarded Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. The Mountaineers were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason poll voted on by head coaches.
Mazey previously won the award in 2019.
Sabins became an assistant head coach at WVU in 2016, and he was elevated to associate head coach before the 2022 season.
“I am beyond grateful to be named the next head baseball coach at West Virginia,” Sabins said. “I look forward to spending the 2024 season competing with Randy Mazey who is my close friend and mentor. It will be his final season and the celebration he deserves.”
When Sabins was hired by WVU, he was the youngest assistant coach at any Power 5 school. He said he’s grateful that Mazey took a chance on him.
“I was unproven with no direct ties to West Virginia. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity he gave me and my family,” Sabins said. “I’ve worked hard every day since to prove him right and make WVU proud. Tabitha and I have poured our energy into this community, welcomed two children, Charlee and Tucker, and Morgantown has become home.
A sizeable portion of the lineup from the 2023 squad will return for Mazey’s final season as head coach, including JJ Wetherholt, who led the nation in batting average.
“Since next season will be my last on the field, I do ask our great fans for their continued support to help make it our best season yet,” Mazey said.
The Mountaineers won 40 games last season, tying the program’s single-season wins record.
