2024 Penn State Baseball Season Highlight Reel (Lesser-Known Events)

Bryce Molinaro’s grand slam in the semifinals, Mason Horwat slamming the door shut in a 10-inning thriller against Maryland, and Adam Cecere’s go-ahead home run to get the Nittany Lions into the Big Ten Championship Game. What do all these events have in common? They all are great highlights of the 2024 Penn State baseball season that are often talked about. Below, you’ll find some lesser-known highlights of this season that helped propel the Nittany Lions to their best season in 24 years:

NITTANY LIONS “WALK” IT OFF AGAINST MONMOUTH

On February 16, the Nittany Lions opened up the 2024 campaign in Cary, NC. Falling behind all game, Penn State completed a 2-run comeback in the bottom of the 9th with a 2-run single from Matt Maloney. After David Lee allowed a run in the top of the 10th, Bryce Molinaro was hit by a pitch to bring in the tying run. With 1 out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th of a 5-5 ballgame, JT Marr watched 4 pitches go out of the zone as Penn State “walked” it off.

PENN STATE CLINCHES RANKED SERIES WIN

For the first time in 17 years, the Nittany Lions won the series against a ranked team in #24 Stanford (USA Today Coaches’ Poll). Not only that, but the Cardinal were in the 2023 College World Series. Penn State demolished Stanford in the first two games, outscoring them 28-6 with one mercy-rule win. After getting close against #17 Miami the previous year, it was a big moment in the early stage of the season for the Nittany Lions.

OFFENSIVE SHOOTOUT IN HAPPY VALLEY

In the home-opening weekend for Penn State, Saturday became a rubber match between them and UMass-Lowell that won’t soon be forgotten. After a 9-run first inning from the Riverhawks, the Nittany Lions bounced back and got 9 runs of their own in the bottom of the 8th inning. Crawling back and playing from behind, Penn State never gave up and hit 0 home runs in a 21-14 win.

BATS HEAT UP IN BLOOMINGTON

One of the most anticipated weekends of the season kicked off with a bang when the Nittany Lions took down Indiana on the road by a score of 15-4. Penn State scored 7 home runs, with 6 different home run hitters as Bryce Molinaro had 2. The Nittany Lions tied their third-highest run total of the season and had one of, if not their best performance of the season up to that point.

WALK-OFF WEEKEND AGAINST THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

Penn State walked off Rutgers in the Friday game with a Grant Norris RBI single to win 7-6. In their final home weekend of the season, the Nittany Lions’ postseason hopes hung in the balance with a Sunday rubber match after a brutal 7-1 loss on Saturday. Down 9-2 heading into the bottom of the 4th, and with head coach Mike Gambino tossed from the game, hopes were looking bleak. After crawling back into the game, Penn State opened up the bottom of the 9th with back-to-back solo home runs from Bobby Marsh and Grant Norris. Following a run scored off of a wild pitch, Joe Jaconski walked it off with an opposite-field RBI single to keep the Nittany Lions’ postseason hopes alive.