OMAHA, Neb. – Junior catcher Nate Voss got a hanging breaking ball and crushed it into the left field bleachers for a go-ahead homer to lead the Penn State baseball team to a 2-1 win over USC on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament Presented by IFS.ai. The Nittany Lions’ win over the Trojans clinched Pool D and moved PSU into Saturday’s semifinals at Charles Schwab Field.
Penn State improved to 33-22 on the season, while USC dropped to 34-21.
PSU’s 33 wins are its second-most in a season in program history, behind only 45 wins in 2000.
The Nittany Lions have made back-to-back appearances in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2000-01.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Penn State will take on No. 1 seed Oregon or No. 8 seed Nebraska at 3 p.m. ET with a broadcast on Big Ten Network.
More info on the Big Ten Tournament can be found here.
Logan Olson made the start for Penn State, working 2.1 innings. He allowed one runs on four hits. He tallied two strikeouts and two walks.
Ben DeMell fired 2.1 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and two walks, while striking out one. Matt Morash worked a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks. Dimond Loosli tossed 2.1 scoreless frames and struck out two to earn his fifth win of the season. Chase Renner earned the save with a shutout ninth, which included a strikeout.
Caden Aoki got the start for USC, going seven innings. He gave up one run on six hits and two walks. Aoki notched seven strikeouts. Andrew Johnson threw two innings, allowing one run on three hits.
Penn State tallied two runs on nine hits. Voss collected two hits, including his go-ahead homer. Paxton Kling went three-for-three with three singles, a run and a steal. Bryce Molinaro drove in a run with an RBI single. Derek Cease added two hits.
With his 63rd run of the season, Kling tied Michael Campo (63; 1999) for third in a season at Penn State.
Molinaro recorded his 61st RBI of the season, moving him past Dan Beers (60; 1998) for second in a season at PSU. He is 19 behind Shawn Fagan’s program record (80; 2000).
USC registered one run on seven hits. Brayden Dowd had two hits, including an RBI double. Adrian Lopez and Kade Higgins added doubles.
The Nittany Lions got on the board in the first. With one out, Kling worked a five-pitch walk. Kling stole second before Molinaro ripped a single to right to bring home Kling. PSU led 1-0.
The Trojans tied the game in the second. With one out, Abbrie Covarrubias sent a single through the middle. With two outs, Covarrubias stole second and moved up to third on a throwing error. Jack Basseer drew a walk and Richard Tejeda was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dowd reached on an infield single to allow Covarrubias to score. The game was even at 1-1.
In the top of the ninth, Ryan Weingartner led off the inning but chopped a 2-0 pitch to third for a groundout. Matt Maloney lifted the first pitch he saw to deep center, but it was caught for the second out of the frame. After fouling off a first-pitch fastball, Voss unloaded on a hanging breaking ball, sending it 354 feet to left for the go-ahead homer.
The 2025 Penn State Baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.