Virginia Tech Baseball: Former Hokie Brendan Cowen Transfers to the University of Virginia

After one season in Blacksburg, the southpaw Cowen is off to Charlottesville.

Brendan Cowen delivers the pitch against Norfolk State in Blacksburg. | Virginia Tech Athletics.

With the smoke settling from the 2025 transfer season, a week into August, former Tech left-handed pitcher Brendan Cowen announced on social media his decision to transfer to the University of Virginia.

All Glory to God! Thank you Jesus! pic.twitter.com/kplq9mhKYI

— Brendan Cowen (@BrendanCowen1) August 7, 2025

Cowen will enter Cavalier head coach Chris Pollard's program after just spending his freshman campaign with the Hokies. In his seven appearances in the spring, Cowen unfortunately never found his groove on the mound, collecting an 11.25 ERA over 4.0 innings tossed.

His best outing for Tech came during a 15-5 victory over Norfolk State, where he threw 2.1 innings and picked up a clean sheet. Without allowing a run in this outing, Cowen tabbed three strikeouts against the Spartans.

This summer, Cowen remained active on the diamond as he suited up for the Strasburg Express in the Valley League. The 6-foot-4 southpaw already possesses an arm angle that's tricky for any batter to get a jump on. In his three outings with the Express, Cowen pitched 3.1 innings for a 5.40 ERA.

While the ERA for Cowen both in Blacksburg and in Strasburg, fares a little high, he can still get swing and misses at a high rate. In 10 outs with the Express, six came via strikeout.

Virginia Tech Baseball | Virginia Tech Athletic

The Hokies have landed a few transfers to alleviate the departures, most notably rising senior Ben Weber from Xavier, who will be joining the squad in the spring. Weber is not the only addition Blacksburg will see from the Musketeers; pitching coach Doug Willey takes over as the pitching coach for head coach John Szefc.

Willey enters and looks to increase the foundation of the rotation and bullpen for Tech. In the ACC in 2025, the Hokies held their own on the mound, ranking sixth-lowest in ERA allowed with 5.23 and the fourth-lowest in opponent batting average with .267.

Though Cowen had never seen the starting rotation for Tech in his freshman season, a situational southpaw is always a good option to have in your back pocket in a bullpen. If he can hone in on obtaining both horizontal and vertical movement on his pitches, Cowen has the velocity already to become a star on the mound.

Hokies Baseball has been undergoing changes this offseason, including the hire of a new general manager.

Revitalizing the day-to-day oversight of the Virginia Tech baseball program, head coach John Szefc formally welcomed Easton Dally into the role of general manager, director of baseball operations in July.

Dally syncs with the Hokies following six seasons of graduate and undergraduate support work within the East Carolina baseball program under head coach Cliff Godwin.

“Easton will be a tremendous addition to our program here at Virginia Tech,” said Szefc. “He has extensive experience coming from East Carolina [while] working with the baseball program.

“I look forward to sharing our operation with Easton – especially to the new ideas he brings with him. He was very highly recommended by the East Carolina coaching staff, which we have a great deal of respect for. Easton makes for a great combination with our program and I look forward to working with him day-to-day.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree from East Carolina in 2023, Dally remained with the baseball program as a graduate assistant manager, tending to a wider array of the Pirates’ logistical demands during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.