Penn State baseball lands former LSU OF, Keystone State standout Paxton Kling
One of Pennsylvania’s top high school baseball prospects in recent memory is headed home. On Saturday, former LSU outfielder Paxton Kling announced his intentions to transfer to Penn State and play for Mike Gambino. A Roaring Spring, Pa., native, Kling played his high school ball at Central High School in Martinsburg, Pa, which is about an hour south of State College.
Out of high school, Kling was the Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year and ranked the No. 2 player in the state and the No. 104 overall prospect in the MLB Draft rankings in 2022. He was the No. 19 overall prospect in the cycle and the No. 6 outfielder according to Perfect Game. Kling posted a .566 batting average in 2022 with five home runs and 33 RBI as he led Central High School to a 27-0 record and the state title as a senior.
The 6-foot-2, 203-pound right-hander played in 57 games and started 22 for LSU as a true freshman in 2023. He hit .289 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, nine RBI and 29 runs in just 90 at bats. He appeared in 10 games in the NCAA tournament and played in three games in the College World Series in his first year.
Kling played in 61 games in 2024, but saw his average dip to .222 with just one home run in his second season.
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Penn State expected to be active in the Transfer Portal
Gambino, fresh off an appearance in the Big Ten title game in his first year at the helm of the Nittany Lions, is expected to be very active in the Transfer Portal this offseason.
“I’ve said this from the beginning. This is going to be a story about Pat Kraft, [Deputy AD for Interal Operations] Vinnie James, the Penn State athletic department investing in a sport that they believe in,” he said in May. “People told me before we took the job and since how much this fanbase, we know they love Penn State and Penn State athletics, but how much they love baseball. How much they will rally behind it. I’ll tell you, I’ve been blown away.
“We’re just getting going. As a department, as a university, as a fanbase. Nebraska just put an elite college baseball atmosphere out there [in the title game]. We can do that. We’ll do that.
“But that’s what this story is going to be about.”
