Penn State baseball (5-1) rolled to a weekend sweep over Longwood (1-5) in Lexington, Virginia in dominant fashion. They outscored the Lancers 36-8 over the three-game series, including a pair of run-rule victories.

The series was initially four games, but due to a snowstorm in Virginia, the teams relocated their series from Longwood’s campus to Gray-Minor Stadium in Lexington, Virginia on the campus of VMI. Friday’s scheduled game was canceled, leaving a Saturday doubleheader and a Sunday matinee.

Junior transfer Paxton Kling built on his good first impression in the Puerto Rico Challenge with an outstanding series, going 7-for-13 with four home runs, a double, two stolen bases, and six RBI.

Game One

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader.

In the first, Ryan Weingartner and Bryce Molinaro got on with walks. With two on and two out, Cole Wagner smacked an RBI single to plate Weingartner. After that, Longwood pitcher Alek Elges threw a pair of wild pitches, with the second one plating Molinaro to make it 2-0.

Ryan DeSanto took the bump for Penn State and built on his solid season debut against UConn with a pair of scoreless innings to start the game. He got additional run support, as a Cohl Mercado single set up Kling for his second home run of the season to make it 4-0 after two.

Longwood got a run back in the third, but had their rally stopped short when catcher Matt Maloney gunned down Longwood’s Myles Webb trying to steal second base, ending the inning.

Patrick Graham led off the fourth with a single, and Mercado followed with a walk to flip the lineup card and get it back to Kling, who crushed his second home run of the game to center field. 7-1.

DeSanto finished his outing with a 1-2-3 fourth inning. In four innings, he allowed just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts. True freshman Harrison Lollin relieved him and tossed a pair of scoreless innings in a sharp collegiate debut.

The offense added two more in the seventh on a Maloney sacrifice fly and Longwood’s third wild pitch of the day to go up 9-1. After Chase Renner took over and struck out a pair of Lancers in the seventh, Penn State went up double digits on a Molinaro RBI double and Jack Porter sacrifice fly.

Holding an 11-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth, Riley Weatherwax sat Longwood down 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts to solidify an 11-1 mercy rule victory. DeSanto got the win, his second in as many starts.

Game Two

The second game of the doubleheader had a similar script to the first.

While a leadoff double by Kling was wasted in the first, the tone was set on the mound. Mason Horwat, who threw five shutout innings against Missouri in the season opener, came out and put up zero after zero.

After Horwat successfully stranded two in each of the first two innings, the bats began to wake up for Penn State. Kling crushed his third home run of the day to take a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, Porter led off the inning with a double and set up Jesse Jaconski, who stepped into the batter’s box in an 0-for-12 slide to start the season. Jaconski crushed a two-run home run to make it 3-0, ending his slump in an emphatic way.

As the bats caught fire, Horwat rolled on, eventually finishing with six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

In the fifth, the Nittany Lions had a more traditional rally to extend the lead. Kling got plunked to start before advancing to third on a Weingartner double. With two in scoring position, struggling Longwood pitcher Guillermo Garcia Jr. sailed a wild pitch to plate one. A Joe Jaconski walk and Molinaro infield single extended the lead to 5-0.

Garcia Jr. didn’t have any help waiting for him and he proceeded to hit another batter before giving up a Nate Voss sacrifice fly to make it 6-0 after five innings.

The home run derby continued when Weingartner blasted his second home run of the season to push the lead to 7-0 after six.

In the seventh, another hit-by-pitch led to the fourth home run of the game, this time by Voss, to make it 9-0. After a bunt single by Jesse Jaconski, Mercado doubled him in to trigger the mercy rule if Matt Morash could close it out after the seventh-inning stretch.

Morash closed out the 10-0 affair with a quick 1-2-3 inning. Horwat picked up his second win of the season for his terrific pitching performance.

Game Three

The series finale was a lot more competitive than the first two.

One thing that didn’t change was the smoking hot bat of Kling, who rocked his fourth home run of the series to lead off the first inning.

In the bottom half, junior transfer Skip Shenosky took the bump for his first start as a Nittany Lion and ran into quick trouble. After giving up a leadoff double and hitting a batter, he looked to turn a double play ball with one out to end the inning, but Longwood’s Jaeden Carter beat it out to tie the game at one.

Shenosky got into a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the second, surrendering a pair of runs on a double play and Trè Keels’s RBI single.

Down 3-1 into the third, the Nittany Lions got a run back after a Jesse Jaconski single and Mercado RBI double. Shenosky settled down and brought the game into the fifth with Longwood up 3-2.

Singles by Mercado and Kling set the table with two in scoring position with one out. Joe Jaconski hit a chopper that ate up the second baseman to bring home one. With the game tied and two out later in the inning, Wagner laced an RBI single to take a 4-3 lead.

A pitching change for Penn State brought in Dimond Loosli, who got a pair of quick outs before surrendering three hits with a pair of wild pitches. When the dust settled, Longwood retook the lead, 5-4.

A sixth-inning one-out walk by Mercado chased Longwood’s starting pitcher, Sam DiLella. The Lancers’ new pitcher couldn’t stop the floodgates from opening, as Kling singled and stole second to put two in scoring position for Weingartner. An unsuccessful fielder’s choice scored the tying run before a Joe Jaconski sacrifice fly and Molinaro RBI triple snatched the lead, making it 7-5 Nittany Lions.

After Anthony Steele posted two scoreless innings to bring the game into the eighth, the Penn State offense put up four runs to pull away.

A Weingartner walk and SB, Molinaro HBP, and a sacrifice put two in scoring position for Porter, who lined a two-run single to go up 9-5. A pitching change didn’t stop the bleeding for Longwood, as a passed ball, error, and infield single by Derek Cease cemented an 11-5 lead.

While Matthew VanOstenbridge gave up one in the bottom half of the eighth, he stranded a pair to keep the five-run lead intact into the final frame.

To wrap up a weekend that saw an offensive explosion in all three games, the Nittany Lions plated three more in the ninth. A Mercado walk and Weingartner hit-by-pitch put traffic on for Joe Jaconski, who ripped an RBI single.

An ensuing two-run double by Molinaro made it 14-6. A Wagner double and another HBP loaded the bases with one out for Maloney, who plated the 36th and final run of the weekend on a sacrifice fly.

Ben DeMell closed out the dominant sweep, giving up a run on an error. Loosli got the win, his first of the season

Takeaways

• Kling was an exceptional acquisition by coach Mike Gambino. His five home runs through six games lead the team and the LSU transfer has been extremely reliable as a leadoff hitter.
• Joe Jaconski is hitting .346 through six games. He and Bryce Molinaro have been raking in the middle of the order.
• Horwat is up to 11 shutout innings to start the season. On a team that’s down one key starter already in Frankie Sanchez, the sophomore stepping up would be massive for this team when they enter Big Ten play next month.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions stay on the road and in the state of Virginia, squaring off with Richmond at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, February 28.