Penn State Baseball Lands College World Series Champ From LSU

Former LSU outfielder Paxton Kling, a Pennsylvania native, says he's "coming home" to Penn State.

Former LSU baseball player Paxton Kling at the plate in a game against Butler at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. / SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network / USA

After sprinting to the Big Ten baseball championship game this spring, Penn State is making some moves in the NCAA Transfer Portal. The Nittany Lions received a commitment from Paxton Kling, who won a College World Series title at LSU and was one of the program's highest-rated recruits.

Kling announced his decision to transfer to Penn State in a social media post titled, "Coming home." Kling, who graduated from Central High School near Altoona, played two seasons at LSU, the first of which ended with the Tigers wining the 2023 College World Series.

In 2023, Kling played in 53 games and started 22 as a true freshman for the Tigers, who went 43-23 during the regular season and defeated Florida in the best-of-three championship series for the College World Series title. Kling hit .289 with five doubles, four home runs and nine RBI in 2023, starting 21 games in right field and one in left field. During an exceptional seven-game stretch in March, Kling batted .652 with three home runs and six RBI. He played in 10 games during the NCAA Baseball Tournament and in three games of the College World Series.

Kling played in 61 games, starting 39, for LSU this past season. He hit .222 with an on-base percentage of .409. According to the SI site LSU Country, which covers LSU athletics, Kling was Perfect Game's No. 6 prospect nationally and one of LSU's top-ranked recruits in the baseball program's history. His return to Pennsylvania gives second-year coach Mike Gambino a strong defensive outfielder, a potentially solid leadoff bat and postseason experience.

Coming home💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/W9PcAs5PfG

— Paxton Kling (@PaxtonKling) June 29, 2024

In his first season as Penn State's head coach, Gambino took the program to its first Big Ten title game since 2000. The Nittany Lions won three games in Omaha, defeating top-seeded Illinois in the opener and then winning back-to-back games against Michigan. Penn State beat Michigan on an eighth-inning grand slam from Bryce Molinaro and a 10th-inning home run from Adam Cecere.

After the championship-game loss to Nebraska, which filled Charles Schwab Field with 13,000 fans, Gambino predicted that Penn State would return for a College World Series appearance.

"I told the team afterward, 'There will be dogpiles,'" Gambino said in Omaha. "I believe it. There will be pictures on the wall, there will be championships. I believe Penn State will be back here, not just for the Big Ten Tournament but for the main course."

Gambino won more games than any first-year baseball coach in Penn State history. He took the
job in July 2023, about two weeks after after signing a contract extension with Boston College, where he had coached for 10 seasons. At Boston College, Gambino worked with Athletic Director Patrick Kraft, who became Penn State's athletic director in 2022. In bringing Gambino to Penn State, Kraft promised a "huge investment" in baseball. Gambino said he has seen that.

"This will be a story about Pat Kraft, Vinnie James [Penn State's deputy AD for internal operations] and the Penn State athletic department investing in a sport they believe in," Gambino said in Omaha. "People told me before we took job, and since, how much the fan base, one, loves Penn State and Penn State athletics, which everybody knows about. But also how much they love baseball, and how much they will rally behind it. And I'll tell you, I've been blown away, and we're just getting going as a department."

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.