Penn State opens Big Ten Baseball Tournament with upset win

The first test of the postseason is in the books for the Penn State baseball team. In the opening game of pool play for the Big Ten Tournament, the No. 9-seed Nittany Lions topped 5-seed Washington, 5-3, in an upset.

The Nittany Lions themselves, earning their 32nd win of the season, didn’t see it that way.

In the wake of a conference tournament run in 2024 that led to a championship game berth for Penn State in Mike Gambino’s first season as manager, the program returned to the same stage feeling confident in its chances.

“They’re fun to watch play out there. They’re playing they’re playing loose, they’re playing hard. And they’re executing at a high level. I love the confidence they’re playing with,” Gambino told the BTN. “There’s a really good feel in that dugout right now. The boys felt very confident we could win this baseball game today based on how we feel.”

Penn State builds a lead

From the jump, the Nittany Lions parlayed that confidence into a lead. Starting with a Jesse Jaconski single in the first inning, Penn State earned a 1-0 advantage it would protect in the game’s early frames. With starting pitcher Ryan DeSanto largely staying out of trouble, the same lead grew in a critical sixth inning.

Batting in the top of the sixth, a Joe Jaconski single and Kling double put runners on second and third with no outs for the Nittany Lions. Bryce Molinaro nearly mustered a home run deep to center field, coming up short at the warning track. In an unusually aggressive play, Kling sparked Penn State’s bench by tagging from second, rounding third, and edging out a tag at the plate to give his side a 3-0 lead.

“Gambino talked about us this play happening once a year, and fortunately, I was on second when it happened,” Kling said. “Instincts kicked in. I went for it. Coach (Jake) Polomaki sent me, and I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ And I was safe, so it’s all good.”

Two batters later, the Nittany Lions built up some insurance with a solo shot Ryan Weingartner. Barely clearing the right field fence, the shot was enough to put Penn State up 4-0 with the bullpen poised to take over following a crucial no-out double play for DeSanto to avoid a jam. Closing out the bottom of the sixth with a pop fly, they escaped with their shutout in place.

Pushing through it

Adding to their lead with another manufactured run in the seventh, the Nittany Lions first stressors arrived in the bottom of the eighth. A two-run homer for A.J. Guerrero put the Huskies on the board with no outs, leaving Dimond Loosli to bounce back, forcing a strikeout, fly out, and ground out to end the inning on three of the next four batters.

Stepping in for the bottom of the ninth, Matt VanOstenbridge quickly worked through two outs. A single and walk put two men aboard ahead of a Guerrero infield single to score a third run with two outs. Closing out the win with a lineout to short, Penn State set itself up with an opportunity to make its way out of pool play when it faces Southern Cal on Thursday (3 p.m., BTN).

“We talked it all fall, we talked about it in the winter, that we are spending the year preparing for playoff baseball,” said Gambino. “In the Big Ten, in these power four conferences when we’re talking about teams that have a chance to go to the College World Series, playoff baseball starts really once you get the conference play. We talked about that all year.

“The key is, you continue to do it, you struggle, you fail, you work yourself, you learn to get better. And then when you get to this point, it’s just like, ‘All right, boys. Go get them. Let it rip. Let’s see what happens.'”

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