Penn State baseball (1-0) shut out Mizzou (0-1) 10-0 to kick off its 2025 season in the Puerto Rico Challenge. The game marked the first time the Tigers were shut out in non-conference play since March 2021.

Behind a strong five innings by Mason Horwat and three home runs by the offense, Penn State got the season started on the right foot.

How It Happened

Horwat, the sophomore looking to build off of a 2024 season that saw him named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team, got the start for the Nittany Lions in their season opener. He opened with a bang in the first inning with a pair of strikeouts in a quick 1-2-3 frame.

Missouri’s starting pitcher, Ian Lohse, worked around a two-out single by Jesse Jaconski to put up a zero of his own.

While Horwat struck out another two in a relatively clean second inning, Lohse couldn’t match him. With one out, senior catcher Matt Maloney blasted the first home run of the season for the blue and white to go up 1-0 after two.

Maloney goes yard for our first homer of the year!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/MSIMI18Oub

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) February 14, 2025

Horwat got into his first serious jam in the third. An error by Ryan Weingartner and a pair of walks loaded the bases with just one out, but he gritted his teeth and got a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to end the inning scoreless.

Weingartner’s offense added on minutes later, as Penn State got two on with two out on an error and a Weingartner walk for standout sophomore Bryce Molinaro, who hit a grounder through the right side for an RBI single, 2-0.

Horwat continued to coast through the next two innings, only surrendering a hit in the fourth and a warning track flyout in the fifth.

The lead was stretched out in the bottom half of the fifth after Penn State chased Lohse after just four innings. Cohl Mercado beat out an infield single to start the inning before LSU transfer Paxton Kling rocketed his first homer as a Nittany Lion to left-center field, extending the lead to 4-0.

First blast as a Nittany Lion @PaxtonKling!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/ms8ttuLqrX

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) February 14, 2025

But the fun wasn’t over yet in the fifth, as Jaconski blooped a single with one out, Molinaro beat out a potential inning-ending double play, and Cole Wagner mashed his own home run to make it 6-0. Wagner, a graduate transfer from Georgia, had retired after the 2023 season but transferred to Penn State in December 2023, playing his first game Friday after sitting out last season.

Home run in his Nittany Lion debut! Let’s go @cookiewagner19!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/RugR1Exv3Z

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) February 14, 2025

Horwat threw 75 pitches and tossed five shutout innings, allowing just one hit with seven strikeouts. He turned it over to redshirt junior Ben DeMell, who followed him up with two scoreless innings of his own to send the game into the seventh-inning stretch with a 6-0 Penn State lead.

Some added insurance in the bottom half got the lead to 9-0. Weingartner led off with a single, was bunted over to second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Wagner RBI single. After a walk to Jack Porter loaded the bags, Maloney lifted a sacrifice fly to right field for his second RBI of the day, making it 8-0.

With two out, Jaconski got a generous hop and reached on a run-scoring E6 to make it 9-0. Mercado singled in another run to chase Missouri reliever Brock Lucas, who allowed six runs in 2.2 innings. 10-0 after seven innings.

To close out the blowout affair, the Nittany Lions got a pair of shutout frames from Anthony Steele and Chase Renner, with Renner’s being his first outing since March 2023. In all, the four Penn State pitchers combined to allow just two hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in a dominant pitching performance.

What’s Next?

Penn State continues its weekend on the island of Puerto Rico at 10 a.m. on Saturday against Stetson. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.