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Scoreboard

Ian Lohse
0
Missouri MIZ 0-1
10
Winner Penn State PSU 1-0
Missouri MIZ
0-1
0
Final
10
Penn State PSU
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Missouri MIZ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Penn State PSU 0 1 1 0 4 0 4 0 X 10 11 1

W: Horwat, Mason (1-0) L: Lohse, Ian (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Penn State Hands Baseball Opening Day Setback

CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO – Despite a strong effort from starting pitcher Ian Lohse, University of Missouri baseball dropped a 10-0 decision to (RV) Penn State at the Puerto Rico Challenge in the 2025 season-opening contest for both clubs Friday afternoon at Yldefonso Solá Morales Stadium. 

Lohse (0-1) struck out a career-high eight batters over four innings, allowing just a second-inning solo shot to PSU's Matt Maloney and a third-inning unearned run. The graduate lefty scattered three hits and fanned two hitters in each of his four frames.

But Penn State (1-0) turned a 2-0 game into a six-run affair with matching two-run homers from Paxton Kling and Cole Wagner in the home half of the fifth. Wagner was one of four PSU batters to record multiple hits in the game, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Nittany Lions' 11-hit attack.

Unfortunately for the Tigers (0-1), Penn State starter Mason Horwat (1-0) was equally as dominant as Lohse. The right-hander fanned seven Mizzou batters and permitted just one hit – a leadoff single by Blake Simpson in the second – over 5.0 shutout innings. Horwat worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second after issuing his only two walks of the day following a Nittany Lions error to start the inning. He struck out Mateo Serna for the second out, before retiring Simpson on a fielder's choice ground ball to second.

Mizzou put a two-out runner on base in the fourth when Horwat plunked Peyton Basler, but the PSU sophomore retired Jedier Hernandez to end the inning, starting what would become a string of 14 consecutive retired MU hitters by Nittany Lions pitching. After Horwat worked a 1-2-3 fifth to end his afternoon, reliever Ben DeMell picked up the baton and dispatched six straight batters over his 2.0 innings. From there, Anthony Steele worked a hitless eighth, before Chase Renner closed out the victory with a scoreless ninth.

Ben Smith provided solid work out of the Mizzou bullpen, striking out two while retiring all four PSU hitters he faced to conclude the contest. In all, Lohse and Smith combined to fan 10 Nittany Lions on the night.

TIGER NOTEBOOK

  • Penn State evened the all-time series with Mizzou at one game apiece in the first meeting of the two schools since the 1952 College World Series.
  • With the setback, Mizzou dropped its third consecutive opening-day contest and fell to 80-45-1 all-time in season openers.
  • Lohse established a career high for strikeouts in a game with his eight punchouts, surpassing his seven-strikeout performance vs. Saint Louis on March 10, 2021.
  • Simpson recorded his first hit as a Tiger with a leadoff infield single in the second, before fellow newcomer Pierre Seals delivered a one-out hit in the ninth for his first MU hit.

UP NEXT
The Tigers continue their stay in Puerto Rico with the second of three games in Caguas Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) against UConn. Mizzou will conclude the weekend Sunday with a Noon matchup against Stetson.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest information on Mizzou baseball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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