Jake Stone was named Penn State baseball's Director of Operations and Player Development in the summer of 2019 and completed his fifth season on the Nittany Lion staff in 2024.
Stone has played an instrumental role in Penn State’s player development through the use of cutting-edge technology, including TrackMan, Edgertronic, K-Vest and Rapsodo systems.
Stone oversees the student manager program at Penn State, leading over 30 managers in various roles.
Stone has helped to develop five MLB Draft selections: RHP Conor Larkin (9th round, 2021), 3B Justin Williams (17th round, 2021), RHP Kyle Virbitsky (17th round, 2021) RHP Bailey Dees (18th round, 2021) and C Matt Wood (4th round, 2022). Wood is the highest-selected position player in program history. Larkin was the ninth pitcher in program history to be selected among the Top 10 rounds of the draft.
In 2021, all three members of the starting rotation were drafted, making Penn State one of only four schools to accomplish that. It marked the third time in program history that Penn State had four or more players selected in a single year and the second time that Penn State had three pitchers selected in a draft.
Under Stone, Penn State’s pitchers have surpassed the 400-strikeout mark in three of the last four full seasons with 491 in 2019, 503 in 2022 and 411 in 2023. The Nittany Lions’ 503 strikeouts in 2022 are a program record.
Penn State has utilized a balanced pitching approach. In each of the last four full seasons, at least nine pitchers have made double-digit appearances. In 2022, eight different pitchers made a start and earned a save. In 2023, six Nittany Lions made a start and collected a save.
In 2024, Penn State went 29-24 overall and 12-12 in Big Ten play. Penn State posted its first winning record in the regular season since 2016 (28-27) and maintained a .500 or better mark from the entire season for the first time since 2011 (32-22). The Blue and White notched its best record in Big Ten play since going 12-12 in 2016. The Nittany Lions finished with a Top-100 RPI for the first time since 2007.
Penn State reached the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game for the first time since 2000 and won three-straight games to open the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Penn State pitching staff featured 12 pitchers making at least 12 appearances. The group tallied 357 strikeouts with seven Nittany Lions recording 25+ strikeouts.
Travis Luensmann was named second team ABCA All-Region East Team, while Mason Horwat was on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Luensmann was tabbed All-Big Ten Tournament Team.
In 2023, Penn State earned 25 wins, including victories against No. 22 Miami, No. 20 Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana and Iowa. The Nittany Lions swept Ohio State in a Big Ten series.
Penn State pitchers had 14 games with 10+ strikeouts, including 16 vs. Brown and 15 vs. Northern Illinois. Penn State pitchers allowed three or less earned runs in 21 games.
Six Nittany Lions collected at least 35 strikeouts. Travis Luensmann led Penn State with 59 strikeouts and six wins, while posting a 4.35 ERA. He tied eighth in the Big Ten with six wins.
Daniel Ouderkirk recorded 57 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. He recorded at least 10 strikeouts in three-straight starts: 11 vs. Northern Illinois, 11 vs. Dartmouth and 10 vs. Brown, becoming the first Nittany Lions with three-straight starts of 10+ strikeouts since at least 2004.
Jaden Henline paced PSU in innings (61.1) while registering five wins and 35 strikeouts. Steven Miller led PSU with 21 appearances, notching 54 strikeouts in 48.1 innings, while Jordan Morales made 19 appearances and struck out 53 batters.
In 2022, the Nittany Lions made their first Big Ten Tournament appearances since 2012. Penn State concluded the season with a 26-29 record, including an 11-13 mark in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and won its tournament opener, 5-2, over No. 3 seed Iowa.
During the regular season, Penn State won Big Ten series against Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State, sweeping the Spartans. Penn State also earned a win in each series against Rutgers, No. 23 Maryland, Northwestern and Ohio State.
On the mound, Penn State set a program record with 503 strikeouts in 490 innings. The Nittany Lions recorded 21 games with 10+ strikeouts and 16 games allowing three or less earned runs. In 49 of 55 games, Penn State’s starting pitcher was a Pennsylvania native.
Six pitchers recorded at least 40 strikeouts, led by Travis Luensmann (78), Jordan Morales (60), Tyler Shingledecker (60) and Jaden Henline (56). Shingledecker paced PSU with seven wins, while Morales led the staff with 26 appearances.
The Nittany Lions concluded the 2021 season with an 18-24 record, playing against exclusively Big Ten opponents. The wins included a 3-2 victory over No. 18 Michigan on March 26 and a series sweep over Michigan State in which Penn State outscored the Spartans, 39-13. The Nittany Lions also won two series against Rutgers.
Penn State starting pitchers allowed 2 or less runs in 16 outings this season. The Nittany Lions staff recorded two shutouts this season, including a 1-0 win over Rutgers on April 2 and an 11-0 victory over Purdue on April 10. Penn State collected 367 strikeouts in 2021.
Senior Kyle Virbitsky paced the Penn State rotation with a 4.17 ERA, five wins, 77.2 innings pitched and 88 strikeouts. Virbitsky ranked seventh in the Big Ten in strikeouts and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40). His 88 strikeouts are tied for the 10th-most in a season at Penn State.
Senior Bailey Dees served as PSU’s Friday night starter and was responsible for four wins and 53 strikeouts in 66 innings. Fellow senior Conor Larkin earned three wins and 69 strikeouts in 63.2 innings.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, Penn State ranked sixth in the NCAA with a 1.01 WHIP and also eighth with a 2.16 team ERA. The Nittany Lions also ranked 15th with 6.33 hits allowed per nine innings and 18th with a 3.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Additionally, Dees, Tyler Shingledecker and Mellott held Navy hitless for 10.1 innings for the first combined no-hitter and first extra-inning no-hitter in program history. The no-hitter was the 10th in Penn State history and first since 2012.
Penn State pitchers saw big improvement in 2019, smashing the then-program record for strikeouts with 491 and ranking ninth in the country and tops in the Big Ten with 10.1 strikeouts-per-nine innings. The Nittany Lions also ranked 47th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten with just 8.32 hits allowed per nine innings and shaved more than a run off of the team’s earned run average from the year prior, moving up to fifth in the Big Ten (4.30).
Dante Biasi led Penn State’s starting rotation and was voted to the 2019 All-Big Ten Second Team by the conference's coaches before getting selected by the Kansas City Royals early in the sixth round to become the highest-selected left-handed pitcher in Penn State history, the highest-selected Nittany Lion pitcher since 2008 and the highest-selected Nittany Lion since 2010.
Biasi posted a 2.55 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 14 starts. His 6.32 hits allowed per nine innings were the fewest in the conference, his ERA ranked fourth in the Big Ten, and he was one of the top strikeout pitchers during the regular season, ranking second in the Big Ten, 33rd nationally and fifth in a single-season in Penn State history. His 12.41 strikeouts per nine innings also ranked second in the Big Ten.
Eric Mock was also drafted in 2019, going to the Cleveland Indians in the 23rd round. At the conclusion of the regular season, Mock ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 10.45 strikeouts per nine innings and 10th with 7.46 hits allowed per nine innings.
Stone brought professional and Big Ten experience to the position, working for the Baltimore Orioles organization and previously serving as the head student manager at Iowa. In his roles, Stone demonstrated advanced knowledge of the cutting-edge player development technology that has proliferated through baseball and efficiently implemented the new systems to improve player practice plans.
For the Orioles, Stone served as a minor league video and data assistant. He created and maintained opposing team scouting reports to assist the coaching staff of their short-season A affiliate, the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Stone also operated the BATS! and Trackman systems and assisted with operating the Edgertronic and Rapsodo systems, cutting film for video analysis and creating player profiles utilizing Trackman data.
Stone led a team of 14 fellow students as an undergraduate at Iowa, assisting with day-to-day operations such as practice setup, scouting, travel and camps. During the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Iowa, tallied a pair of 30-win seasons, won the 2017 Big Ten Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Regionals, and represented the United States at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan, winning a silver medal.
In the summer of 2018, Stone served as a collegiate area scout in the Northwoods League for Prep Baseball Report and operated the Trackman system for the single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, a Minnesota Twins affiliate.
Stone graduated from the University of Iowa in May 2018 with a degree in sport and recreation management.
Jake resides in State College with his wife, Emma.