Over the past few weeks, right-hander Jaden Henline has proven himself to be one of the best pitchers that Penn State baseball has.

Heading into the 2023 season, Henline’s role was pretty unknown. The Nittany Lions had two starter spots filled with Travis Luensmann and transfer Daniel Ouderkirk. That meant Henline was fighting for either the last weekend starter spot or a midweek spot.

To start the year, Henline was coming out of the bullpen, serving as essentially the long-man when the starting pitcher got into jams. He filled that role for roughly the first month of the season and had some up-and-down performances.

In his recent start against Delaware State, Henline allowed two first-inning runs but battled back and tossed five shutout innings in a row, picking up the win in the process.

Head coach Rob Cooper spoke postgame about how Henline has given the team a chance to win on multiple occasions this year.

“He’s been really dependable for us,” Cooper said. “I think the biggest thing is him responding to giving up two runs… That’s what you want.”

In the 40.2 innings pitched this year, Henline has dropped his ERA to an impressive 3.32. The most impressive stat on the year, however, is he hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in any of his appearances this season.

After his outing against Delaware State, Henline discussed overcoming adversity during the game and using what he has learned all season to battle back.

“We always look at the next pitch,” Henline said. “I just use any flush techniques that I have that I’ve worked on over the offseason and just [trust] my stuff.”

In his four starts this season, Henline is 2-1 and has struck out 14 batters over 23.1 innings pitched. He helped the Nittany Lions pick up a huge win this past weekend during their road series against Purdue.

Henline has arguably been Penn State’s best pitcher as of late and has been key in picking up huge Big Ten wins. Henline credited his approach on the mound for his recent success.

“I’ve been struggling a little bit on the pitching side of things. So, I just tried to set the tone as early and often as I could,” Henline said. “I just try to throw strikes, you know, what I do best, [and] just play to my strengths.”

With a little over a month until the Big Ten Tournament, Henline’s stellar play will need to continue if the Nittany Lions want any chance of making a run in regionals.