Penn State baseball adds ex-SEC, PA high school star from transfer portal

After a historic first season in Happy Valley, Mike Gambino has landed a homerun transfer portal addition to help bolster his Penn State baseball program heading into year two. Over the weekend, the Nittany Lions added former LSU outfielder and Pennsylvania high school standout Paxton Kling via the portal.

Voted the 2022 Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year during his senior season with Central High School in Blair County, Kling returns to central Pennsylvania after two seasons in Baton Rouge. The rising junior made his homecoming announcement Saturday afternoon via social media.

Coming home💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/W9PcAs5PfG

— Paxton Kling (@PaxtonKling) June 29, 2024

During his true freshman season at LSU, Paxton Kling started 22 games, primarily in right field. Playing 57 games total during the Tigers’ run to the College World Series and National Championship victory, Kling batted .289 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, nine RBI, and 29 runs.

Kling’s role decreased this year, starting the season as LSU’s leadoff hitter before being replaced in the lineup and becoming a late-inning defensive replacement. He finished 2024 batting .222 with nine doubles, one home run, 21 RBIs, and 27 runs in 61 games.

Coming out of high school, Paxton Kling was ranked as the No. 6 prospect by Perfect Game and the No. 104 overall prospect in the MLB’s draft rankings. He led Central High School to a 27-0 state title-winning season in 2022, batting .566 with five homers and 33 RBIs.

Mike Gambino looking to build on historic first season with Penn State baseball

Penn State baseball finished 2024 on a high note, reaching the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time since 2000.

While the Nittany Lions fell to Nebraska in Omaha, it was still a remarkable first season for new manager Mike Gambino. With 29 wins, Gambino now has the most wins by a first-year manager in Penn State baseball history, surpassing Robbie Wine’s 28 in 2005. He became only the second coach in Big Ten history to lead his team to the conference tournament title game in his first season.

Now, Gambino will look to use this momentum to help propel Penn State baseball into the future. However, it’ll still be an uphill battle. The Nittany Lions lost eight players to the transfer portal this spring. 

In addition to Paxton Kling, Penn State also added Wake Forest right-handed pitcher Will Andrews from the transfer portal earlier in June. Expect Gambino to continue to hit the portal hard as the Nittany Lions look to reload and get ready for 2025. 

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