Penn State Baseball Lands Two Infielders From The Transfer Portal
As the college baseball season winds down with the College World Series in Omaha, Penn State baseball has begun to fill out its roster for the 2026 season, continuing to build on its recent success.
Head coach Mike Gambino secured the program’s first two transfer portal commitments over the past few days. First, on Friday, Penn State landed the commitment of former West Virginia infielder Spencer Barnett.
Barnett, a rising junior from Pittsburgh, was ranked the No. 40 player in Pennsylvania for the Class of 2024 recruiting class and, in his two seasons, has played a majority of his games at either second or third base, but has also played first base and shortstop.
Barnett played 91 games over his first two seasons in Morgantown, slashing .274/.358/.406 with six home runs, 16 extra-base hits, and 47 RBI in 262 total plate appearances. He started in 28 of his 45 appearances in 2025 but he was rarely used down the stretch as West Virginia geared up for its NCAA Tournament run, which ended in the Baton Rouge Super Regional after the team won the Big 12 Regular Season title.
In Penn State’s upset victory over West Virginia in April, he went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Barnett has two years of eligibility remaining.
On Monday, a second infielder who played for a college baseball power set their sights on Happy Valley, as former Vanderbilt infielder Jayden Davis announced his commitment on X.
Davis, a rising senior from Cookeville, Tennessee, was an All-American out of high school, spending his freshman year at Samford in 2023, hitting .358 and while being named the Freshman of the Year in the Southern Conference.
Davis transferred to Vanderbilt ahead of 2024 and performed in his sophomore season, slashing .315/.394/.435 with 2 home runs and 36 RBI over 46 games. After starting the SEC season batting .354, his season was derailed after needing surgery following getting hit in the face in late April.
He never got going in 2025, batting .203 in just 64 at-bats over 24 games before entering the transfer portal. Still, with success against SEC pitching in the past, he could translate well to the Big Ten. Throughout his collegiate career, he played almost exclusively second base. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
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