Hall of Fame
A native of Magnolia, Arkansas, Hayden Simpson stayed home to pursue his collegiate baseball career, and after three dominant years on the mound, he would finish as the most highly decorated student-athlete in the history of SAU Athletics.
As a freshman in 2008, Simpson was named the Gulf South Conference West Division Freshman of the Year as well as a GSC West Division First-Team pitcher after he posted a perfect 10-0 record with a 3.43 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 63.0 innings pitched.
In 2009, he topped his rookie campaign with a 12-1 record over 108.2 innings pitched, which included a program-record 132 strikeouts, six complete games, four shutouts, and a no-hit performance against Culver-Stockton (Mo.). That season, Simpson’s dominance on the mound helped lead the Muleriders to a GSC West Division title, the most wins in school history (52), a #1 national ranking, and hosting rights for that year’s NCAA South Region Tournament. Individually, Simpson’s sophomore campaign saw him repeat his conference honor while also becoming a consensus All-Region First-Team selection/Regional Pitcher of the Year as well as being named a consensus All-America First-Teamer.
In his final year for Southern Arkansas in 2010, Simpson was at his very best as the right-hander finished with a 13-1 record that saw six complete games with half of those (3) being shutouts. Simpson also delivered an impressive 42.2 consecutive scoreless inning streak. In 99.1 total innings pitched, Simpson racked up 131 strikeouts and posted the second-lowest single-season ERA in program history at 1.81.
Simpson’s brilliance on the mound helped the Muleriders win the second-most games in a season going 47-10, repeat as GSC West Division Regular Season Champions, spend time as the #1 ranked team in DII, and play in the South Regional Final as the top-seed in that year’s tournament.
Individually, those gaudy and dominant numbers yielded another crop of major awards and accolades for Simpson as he became a three-time All-GSC West Division First-Team pitcher and a two-time consensus All-Region First-Team selection. Simpson was also awarded as the GSC West Division Player of the Year and named a “Top 10” honoree for the GSC’s Top Ten Award, which honors student-athletes based on athletic, academic and extracurricular achievement.
Nationally, Simpson was the consensus NCAA Division II National Pitcher of the Year and an All-America First-Team honoree for the second-straight year. Simpson also finished runner-up for the inaugural Tino Martinez Award for the DII National Player of the Year.
Not long after the sensational 2010 season, Simpson was honored as a unanimous selection to the GSC West Division All-Decade Team for the 2000s as well as being the unanimous choice for GSC West Division Pitcher of the Decade.
In three years, Simpson went 35-2 with a 2.39 ERA, 323 strikeouts and seven shutouts in 271.0 innings pitched. His wins, shutouts and strikeouts are career program records. Additionally, Simpson holds the top-two season strikeout totals, is tied for the season mark in shutouts (4 | 2009) and is tied for the second-most wins in a season as well (13 | 2010).
Of the 26 NCAA Division II pitchers currently with 35 or more career wins, Simpson’s career winning percentage of .946 is tied for the highest such mark in DII history, and he remains ranked among the Top 25 of DII in career wins.
Simpson’s collegiate career culminated in him being selected 16th overall by the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft; the highest MLB June draft selection in program history. He played two years in the Cubs’ farm system with stints in Peoria, Daytona, and Boise, before finishing his professional career in 2013 with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Independent Frontier League.
