The Nittany Lions are nationwide, and Bryce Molinario is headed to the capital!

Bryce Molinaro becomes the fifth Nittany Lion drafted in the 2025 MLB Draft, as he was selected the No. 501 overall in the 17th round by the Washington Nationals.

Moli DC

Congrats to @BryceMolinaro getting selected in the 17th round by the @Nationals!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/xsEc3jarrn

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

In the 2025 season, the redshirt sophomore appeared in all 56 games for the Nittany Lions at third base. At the plate, Molinaro recorded 60 hits, including eight doubles, three triples, and 13 home runs, for 61 runs batted in and 46 runs.

The Pennsylvania native’s three triples rank fifth in the Big Ten, and his 61 RBIs rank eighth in the conference, and second all-time in RBIs in a season at Penn State. Molinaro is also tied for seventh all-time in home runs in a season with 13. This season, Molinaro had 17 multi-hit games and 20 multi-hit RBI performances.

In his redshirt freshman season at Penn State, Molinaro wrote a similar story for himself. In 2024, Molinaro started all 53 games over at third base and batted .329 with 68 hits and 45 RBIs. Molinaro also had a standout performance for the Nittany Lions in the 2024 Big Ten Tournament, hitting .375 and collecting two doubles and a homer amongst 6 hits in four games.

That same year, Molinaro was named third team All-Big Ten and named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team as a result of his standout performance.

The most recent draftee currently ranks seventh in program history with a career slugging percentage of .530. Molinaro spent one season at St. John’s University prior to Penn State.

With the Nationals’ selection, Bryce Molinaro joins Paxton Kling, Ryan Weingartner, Ryan Desanto, and Chase Renner as the fifth draft selectee. The Nittany Lions’ five selections trail the program record by just one, when six program players were selected in the 2019 MLB Draft.

Molinaro has two years of eligibility remaining and may choose to forego those two seasons to sign with the Nationals or return to Happy Valley.