On August 23, 2015, David Aardsma stepped off of a major league mound for the final time.

Aardsma, drafted in the first round by the San Francisco Giants in 2003, was a star at Rice University, where he led the nation in saves during Rice’s run to their first College World Series championship three weeks after being drafted.

Why is this relevant?

Aardsma spent his freshman year at Penn State in 2001 before transferring out, spending two years at Rice, and going on to pitch over 300 games in the majors out of the bullpen. Aardsma’s stats with the Nittany Lions aren’t easy to find, but an archived baseball recap from 2001 said he had a 5.90 ERA in early April.

As of this writing, Aardsma is the last player to have pitched in both a Penn State uniform and an MLB uniform.

Spencer Bivens, a native of State College, debuted with the Giants in 2024. He transferred to Penn State from Louisburg College in 2015 but never appeared in a game due to failing a drug test.

The last player to be drafted directly out of Penn State and play in the majors? Nate Bump, a first-round pick in 1998 who last appeared in the MLB with the Florida Marlins in July 2005.

I don’t need to tell you that Penn State is not a baseball school. Despite Mike Gambino’s squad’s 15-4 start to the season, Penn State is a program that hasn’t appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2000 and just has made the trip twice in the past 50 years. Just one player who has played for the Nittany Lions since their last tournament appearance has made the MLB (Aardsma).

Despite this, there is some hope. Since 2021, seven Nittany Lions have been drafted into MLB and some have continued to climb the minor league ladder.

With Opening Day just eight days away, let’s go through the seven minor leaguers that hail from Happy Valley and see if we can find the man who will end the drought.

RHP Daniel Ouderkirk (Seattle Mariners, Rookie Ball)

Daniel Ouderkirk spent just one season with Penn State, transferring prior to the 2023 season from West Virginia. In his senior season with the Nittany Lions, he went 2-4 with a 7.26 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. He was drafted in the 18th round in that year’s draft by the Seattle Mariners.

Ouderkirk debuted in the Arizona Complex League (rookie ball) later that year, tossing three shutout innings with five strikeouts in three outings. Unfortunately, Ouderkirk misses the entire 2024 season with injury.

He should return this season, but the 25-year-old is going to have to show enough to the organization to stay in the organization after missing all of 2024.

2B Jay Harry (Toronto Blue Jays, High-A)

Jay Harry was a very good three-year starter with the Nittany Lions, gradually adding power to go along with his strong bat-to-ball skills. After hitting .333 as a sophomore and .299 with 20 extra-base hits as a junior, Harry was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.

Harry started in rookie ball before destroying Single-A pitching late in 2023, hitting .337 with a .884 OPS in 27 games. His bat didn’t translate upon his promotion to High-A, hitting just .214 before a midseason trade to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he did a bit better.

At 22, Harry has plenty of time to get back to what made him a sixth-round pick. He’ll likely start in High-A again.

C Matthew Wood (Milwaukee Brewers, High-A)

Matt Wood was the highest-drafted Nittany Lion since Drew O’Neil in 2008 when he was drafted in the fourth round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022. He remains the highest-drafted position player in program history. He signed for a $347,000 signing bonus, the most by a Nittany Lion in 24 years.

Wood had an incredible collegiate career, being named to First Team All-Big Ten and winning the conference batting title in his junior year. After a solid sophomore campaign, he exploded in 2022, slashing .379/.480/.667 with 12 home runs, 53 RBI, and 30 extra-base hits.

After debuting in rookie ball later that year with the Brewers, he tore the cover off the ball in 25 games with their Single-A affiliate, getting a promotion to High-A in May 2023. In the process, he snuck his way up to the No. 29 prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline.

He’s stayed in High-A since then, slashing just .238/.347/.309 in 174 total games over the past season and a half. For Wood to break the streak, he’ll need to find the power stroke he displayed in college in 2025 to keep progressing up the ladder.

RHP Conor Larkin (Toronto Blue Jays, Double-A)

Conor Larkin was a four-year player at Penn State. He became a full-time starter in 2020, starting his season with four strong starts before the season was suspended. In his senior year, he went 3-8 with a 5.09 ERA in 12 starts with 69 strikeouts to just 24 walks in 63.2 innings pitched. Larkin was selected in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays.

He made his professional debut in Low-A in 2022 as a reliever, striking out 21 in 14.2 innings with a 1.23 ERA. He struggled upon his promotion to High-A but settled in during a full 2023 season with a 4.3 ERA across 46 innings with 57 strikeouts.

An even stronger start to 2024 earned him a promotion to Double-A in July. After two rough appearances, he went on the injured list and missed the last month of the season. He’ll presumably start 2025 in Double-A again and will have a chance to keep rising if he adjusts to the level like he did with High-A.

RHP Kyle Virbitsky (Baltimore Orioles, Double-A)

Kyle Virbitsky also played a full four years with the Nittany Lions. The 6’7″ right-hander grew from a reliever early on to a starter in 2020. After COVID-19 shortened junior year, he posted a 4.17 ERA across 13 starts in 2021 as a senior. His 88 strikeouts were seventh in the Big Ten that year. His strong senior year led to him being drafted in the 18th round by the Oakland Athletics in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Like most pitchers who enter an organization after graduating college, Virbitsky started in High-A in 2021, posting a 3.38 ERA in just 16 innings after joining them in August.

After splitting time across A-ball in 2022, Virbitsky was traded to the Baltimore Orioles prior to the 2023 season. A midseason switch to the bullpen in his first season in the Orioles’ organization got something to click, as he earned a promotion to Double-A to start the 2024 season, where he had a 4.44 ERA in 26.1 innings.

Virbitsky is in a solid spot to continue rising the ladder, but he’ll need to get back to the blistering strikeout stuff he had in college to impress a contender like Baltimore enough to get the bigs.

RHP Bailey Dees (New York Yankees, Double-A)

Bailey Dees was another four-year Nittany Lion who started his junior year, 2020, strong before it ended early. His senior year wasn’t the cleanest, posting a 5.59 ERA in 66 innings with just 53 strikeouts. Still, he was drafted in the 18th round by the New York Yankees in 2021.

Dees was immediately switched to a reliever by the Yankees and had a strong 2022 with their Single-A affiliate, posting a 3.31 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. He was even more dominant in 2023 in High-A and was skyrocketing up the farm system before hitting a bit of a wall in Double-A due to walking too many batters.

Ahead of 2024, Dees was stretched back out as a starter and improved his command. He tossed a career-high 137 innings of 4.25 ERA ball in 2024 with the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate. This Spring Training, he’s thrown 2.1 shutout innings.

Dees could start 2025 in Triple-A after a solid campaign last year, but figures to be the second closest Nittany Lion to the majors.

RHP Justin Hagenman (New York Mets, Triple-A)

Justin Hagenman is the closest Penn State alum to the majors and is the only one on a 40-man roster, meaning he’s one of 14 minor-league players who are one call away from their big-league dreams.

The 28-year-old is the old man of the group, spending 2016 to 2018 with the Nittany Lions. He was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team after a strong 2016 season, but he became a better pitcher despite a worse ERA as his career progressed. After striking out just 39 in 82 innings as a freshman, he struck out 76 in 78 innings as a junior. He was drafted in the 23rd round in 2018 by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hagenman’s minor league career was interrupted by COVID-19, but he emerged in Double-A on the other side of it. After making Triple-A early in 2022, he struggled to the point where he started to stagnate, eventually being traded to the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline.

In 91.2 innings with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, he posted a 4.92 ERA — above average. He signed a major league deal with the New York Mets in November 2024 but was optioned on March 9.

Unlike most on this list, Hagenman has pitched in spring training, allowing two runs in eight innings. With teams frequently going through their 40-man rosters over a course of a season, Hagenman could end Penn Sate’s streak without a player in the majors very soon.