Penn State baseball (30-21, 15-15 Big Ten) dominated Xavier (30-24, 14-7 Big East) 7-1 on Thursday afternoon at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in its first game of a three-game series. With this win, Penn State has clinched its first 30-win season since 2011.

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start as they took advantage of two errors by the Musketeers that allowed them to score four runs in the first inning. This four-run inning proved to be the difference as Penn State let Xavier score only one run in the game before it scored three runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings to put the game out of hand.

How It Happened

Penn State pitcher, Ryan DeSanto, retired Xavier’s first three batters to end the top frame of the first inning. In the bottom half of the opening frame, Joe Jaconski reached first base on a throwing error and was able to advance to second. After Paxton Kling was hit by a pitch, Bryce Molinaro hit a single, but the Musketeers made a fielding error that allowed Joe Jaconski and Kling to score as the Nittany Lions struck first.

Jesse Jaconski walked to give Penn State runners on first and second with no outs. Xavier’s pitcher, Ben Weber, threw a wild pitch that allowed Molinaro and Jesse Jaconski to advance to third and second base. Ryan Weingartner then hit a sacrifice fly that brought Molinaro home and allowed Jesse Jaconski to advance to third. On the next batter, Nate Voss hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Jesse Jaconski to score before the inning came to an end with Penn State holding a 4-0 lead.

Molinaro rips a single to right to bring in Jaconski and Kling!

B1 | PSU 2, XAV 0#WeAre pic.twitter.com/QpS0vBp9oC

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) May 15, 2025

DeSanto struck out Xavier’s first two batters, but Isaac Wachsmann drew a walk to keep the top of the second inning alive. Aedan Anderson was hit by a pitch right after which allowed Xavier to have runners on first and second. However, DeSanto recorded the critical strikeout that prevented the Musketeers from scoring. Weber returned the favor as he retired the Nittany Lions 1-2-3 to end the second inning.

Despite not allowing hits, Penn State manager, Mike Gambino, decided to replace DeSanto with Anthony Steele. Steele retired Xavier’s first two batters, but Nolan Tucker drew a walk and then stole second base to keep the top frame alive. The top of the third inning came to an end right away as Carter Hendrickson flew out to center field. Weber once again retired the Nittany Lions to keep Xavier’s deficit at four heading into the fourth inning.

The scoreless trend extended into three innings as both teams went scoreless in the fourth inning. Anderson drew a leadoff walk to get things underway in the top frame of the fifth inning. Then, he advanced to second on a passed ball by Steele. Things started to get tricky for Steele as Jason Jelic drew another walk to give the Musketeers runners on first and second with no outs. Steele struck out Luke Hammond to get the first out before he was replaced by Ben DeMell.

Then, Jake Lambdin hit a single to give Xavier its first hit of the game. After Tucker flied out, Hendrickson reached base on a fielding error by Molinaro which allowed the Musketeers to score their first run of the game. However, Connor Misch flew out to right field which ended the top frame and kept Penn State’s three-run lead intact.

Xavier decided to go to its bullpen in the bottom frame as Jon Wylie replaced Weber. This move paid dividends as Wylie retired the Nittany Lions 1-2-3 to keep the Musketeers’ deficit at three heading into the sixth inning. DeMell retired Xavier’s first two batters but Anderson drew a walk to keep the top of the inning alive. Then, Jelic hit a double as the Musketeers had runners on third and second. However, Xavier could not capitalize as DeMell struck out Hammond to end the top frame.

In the bottom frame, Molinaro drew the leadoff walk but Wylie retired Penn State’s next three batters to keep Xavier’s three-run deficit intact. Dimond Loosli came on to replace DeMell in the seventh inning and he managed to prevent the Musketeers from scoring despite giving up a single in the top of the seventh inning.

Maloney hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh inning. On the next batter, Cease grounded out, but Maloney advanced to third. However, during Mike Lucarelli’s at-bat, Maloney was picked off at third to give the Musketeers their second out. Lucarelli was hit by a pitch and then, Joe Jaconski’s single allowed Lucarelli to get to third. This forced Xavier to take out Wylie with Joseph Chavana.

This move did not pay off for the Musketeers as Kling hit an RBI single to extend Penn State’s lead to four before the inning came to an end. Clay Burdette hit a leadoff double for Xavier in the top of the eighth inning, but it could not capitalize as Loosli retired the next three batters to prevent the Musketeers from trimming the Nittany Lions’ lead.

In the bottom frame, Jesse Jaconski reached base on a throwing error by Xavier, and then, Weingartner drew a walk which forced the Musketeers to replace Chavana with Ashton Chronister. After Voss fouled out, Jesse Jaconski and Weingartner stole bases to give the Nittany Lions runners on second and third. Then, Maloney hit an RBI double that allowed Penn State to score two runs and extend its lead to six before the inning came to an end.

Maloney rips a double to the corner to bring in Jesse Jaconski and Weingartner!

B8 | PSU 7, XAV 1#WeAre pic.twitter.com/c8tKGkHK7x

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) May 16, 2025

Chase Renner came in for the Nittany Lions in an attempt to close out the game. After Hayden Christiansen popped out, Lambin drew a walk before Kling made a diving catch to give the Nittany Lions their second out. On the next batter, Renner struck out Hendrickson to end the game as the Nittany Lions won the first game of the series by a score of 7-1.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s pitching unit bounced back after struggling in its last two games. After giving up 24 runs combined in its last two losses, it only let Xavier score one run and have four hits during the game despite giving up five walks as a unit.
• Even though Xavier committed one more error compared to Penn State, its errors caused more damage than Penn State’s did as two of its three errors came in the first inning. This allowed the Nittany Lions to score two unearned runs out of four in this inning and to dictate the rest of the game as they only let the Musketeers one run in the game.
• With this win, the Nittany Lions secured their third 30-win season since 2000. The last time they won 30 games in a season was in 2011 when they won 31 games but lost to Minnesota in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.

What’s Next?

Penn State will work to clinch the series win against Xavier at 6 p.m. on Friday but the game will take place in FNB Field in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.