EVANSTON, Ill. – The Penn State baseball team claimed an 11-2 win over Northwestern in the series opener on Friday afternoon at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park. Junior Ryan DeSanto tossed five scoreless innings, while Joe Jaconski, Paxton Kling and Jack Porter launched homers. Penn State moved to 13-3 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play.
Northwestern dropped to 7-9 overall and fell in its first Big Ten game of the year.
Due to cold weather concerns on Sunday, the Nittany Lions and the Wildcats will finish the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. Both games will be broadcast on B1G+.
Penn State has started a season 13-3 for the first time since 1980.
The Nittany Lions are 3-1 to start Big Ten play, their best four-game conference start since 2014 (4-0).
Penn State tallied 10+ runs for the 11th time this season and the third time in four Big Ten games.
Junior Ryan DeSanto earned the start for the Nittany Lions, tossing five scoreless innings, his longest outing of the 2025 season. He allowed just one hit and one hit-by-pitch. DeSanto tallied five strikeouts and did not allow a walk. He worked 1-2-3 innings in the first, third and fifth frames and had multiple strikeouts in the third.
In 2025, DeSanto has allowed 1 or less run in three of his five starts and has at least five strikeouts in four of five starts.
Anthony Steele fired a career-high three innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits. Steele notched five strikeouts, without walking a batter. Steele matched a career best with five strikeouts.
Graduate student Crawford Wade started for Northwestern, going 4.2 innings. He allowed six runs on nine hits. Wade recorded three strikeouts and a walk. Christian Forniss went two full innings and pitched into a third frame. He gave up three runs on four hits and struck out one. Amar Tsengeg threw 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits.
Through 16 games, Penn State has allowed only four starting pitchers to go at least five innings. Two of the four pitchers to go five innings were in the Longwood series, each giving up six runs over five innings.
Penn State collected 11 runs on 16 hits. Paxton Kling and Jack Porter each tallied three hits, including a homer. Kling drove in three runs and added a stolen base, while Porter drove in two RBI and scored three times. Joe Jaconski contributed a double and a solo homer and scored two runs. Jesse Jaconski had a double and a triple to drive in three runs. Cohl Mercado had two hits, two RBI and a steal.
Northwestern had two runs on seven hits. Owen McElfatrick tallied two hits, including an RBI double. Jackson Freeman added a base knock and an RBI.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a lead in the fourth. Leading off the inning, Joe Jaconski sent a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left-center. Porter followed with a single through the middle and hit-by-pitches by Nate Voss and Jesse Jaconski loaded the bases. Mercado beat out a fielder’s choice to allow Porter to score. The 375-foot blast by Jaconski and the RBI fielder’s choice by Mercado put PSU ahead, 2-0.
Penn State extended its lead in the fifth. Kling sent the first pitch of the inning over the wall in left. Joe Jaconski worked a walk before Porter crushed a fly ball over the wall in left for a two-run homer. Cole Wagner dropped a single into left and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Jesse Jaconski smacked a line drive into left for a double to bring home Wagner. Kling’s eighth homer of the year and Porter’s third helped PSU to push its lead to 6-0.
The Nittany Lions plated three runs in the seventh. Porter reached on a leadoff single to center. Two batters later, Nate Voss dropped a single into left. A sharp single up the middle by Mercado brought home Porter. A steal by Mercado and a walk by Weingartner, Kling ripped a single into left to bring in Voss and Mercado. Penn State led 9-0.
Penn State added two runs in the eighth. With two outs, Wagner lined a single to left. Voss drew a walk before a line drive by Jesse Jaconski got past the left fielder as Wagner and pinch-runner Derek Cease scored and Jaconski hustled to third for a triple. The Nittany Lions extended their lead to 11-0.
Northwestern got on the board in the bottom of the eighth. Jack Lausch started the inning with an infield single. A grounder by Tyler Ganus resulted in an error to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, McElfatrick lined a double to left to bring in Lausch. A groundout by Freeman allowed Ganus to cross the plate. PSU led 11-2.
The 2025 Penn State Baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.