CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO – The Penn State baseball team earned a 10-0 win over Missouri to open the 2025 season on Friday evening at Estadio Yldefonso Solá Morales in the PR Baseball Challenge. Paxton Kling, Matt Maloney and Cole Wagner all blasted homers, while Mason Horwat tossed five scoreless innings.
Penn State picked up its first win over an SEC team since a 4-3 victory over Alabama on March 4, 1995.
Sophomore Mason Horwat got the opening day start for the Nittany Lions. The Pittsburgh native tossed five scoreless frames. He allowed one hit and two walks, while striking out seven. Horwat’s seven strikeouts more than doubled his previous career high of three. He recorded multiple strikeouts in the first and second innings.
Ben DeMell worked two perfect innings and registered three strikeouts. Anthony Steele fired a shutout frame, with one strikeout, before Chase Renner tossed a scoreless inning and notched two punchouts.
The Nittany Lions retired 14-straight batters between the fourth and ninth innings.
Missouri started Ian Lohse on the mound. He threw four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. Lohse recorded eight strikeouts and a walk. Brock Lucas threw 2.2 innings, giving up eight runs (six earned) on eight hits. Ben Smith tossed 1.1 scoreless innings.
Penn State tallied 10 runs on 11 hits. Cole Wagner launched a two-run homer in his Nittany Lion debut to go with an RBI single. Matt Maloney blasted a solo homer and added a double and a sac fly. Paxton Kling smashed a two-run homer. Cohl Mercado added two hits, including an RBI single, and scored twice.
Dating back to April 21, 2024, Bryce Molinaro is riding a 19-game hit streak.
Missouri had two hits with singles by Blake Simpson and Pierre Seals.
Maloney got the Nittany Lions on the board, launching a solo homer in the second inning. Maloney’s 380-foot blast gave PSU a 1-0 advantage.
The Nittany Lions added a run in the third. A bunt by Mercado was misplayed to start the inning. Mercado stole second before Ryan Weingartner drew a walk. Two batters later, Molinaro shot a grounder through the right side to drive in Mercado. PSU led 2-0 through three.
Penn State exploded for four runs in the fifth on a pair of two-run homers. Mercado led off the frame with an infield single. Kling launched an 0-1 pitch over the wall in left-center. Joe Jaconski lined a single to center before Wagner blasted a 1-2 pitch over the fence. Kling’s 413-foot homer and Wagner’s 409-foot shot gave PSU a 6-0 lead.
PSU plated four runs in the seventh. Weingartner reached on a leadoff single. He moved to second on a groundout and to third on a wild pitch. After a walk by Molinaro, Wagner ripped a single through the right side to bring home Weingartner. A walk by Jack Porter loaded the bases before Maloney lifted a sac fly to right to score Molinaro. A grounder by Jesse Jaconski was misplayed to allow Wagner to cross the plate. Mercado lined a single to center to bring home pinch-runner Joey DeMucci. Penn State extended its lead to 10-0.
The Nittany Lions continue the PR Baseball Challenge on Saturday against Stetson. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. on ESPN+.
The challenge concludes on Sunday against UConn at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
The 2025 Penn State Baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.