Perfect Game/Player of the Week:

Paxton Kling, JR, Penn State

The Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1) are off to another outstanding start in Mike Gambino’s second year as head coach in Happy Valley. The program has a tremendous amount of momentum right now and landing a player like Paxton Kling in the transfer portal is further proof of what they have going there. Kling, the former Perfect Game High School All-American and LSU transfer, is off to an incredible start to the season, slashing .440/1.080/.533 with 5 home runs and 9 RBI thus far. The 6-2/210 Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania native is an elite athlete with twitchy actions, and it all seems to be coming together for him and his club at the right time. In 3-games last weekend, he collected 7 hits in 13 at-bats, including a double, 4 home runs and 6 RBI. Kling is setting himself up nicely for this year’s MLB Draft, but it feels like he and the Nittany Lions will be making a trip to the NCAA Tournament before that happens.

Perfect Game/Pitcher of the Week:

Trystan Levesque, GR, Rhode Island

While the Rhode Island Rams (3-4) currently have a losing record, they have made quite the splash on the national landscape in the first two weeks of the season. On Opening Weekend, they won the rubber match with William & Mary by an astronomical score of 36-22 in just 7 innings. This past weekend they went to Oregon and out-slugged the Ducks 12-11 on Friday night before Levesque took the mound in Game 2 of the doubleheader. The 5-10/207 southpaw went out and pitched what could be the most epic no-decision in program history. He ended up going 10 innings in the start, only allowing 3 hits, no runs, 2 walks and he struck out 9 batters on his way to 119 total pitches. An injury ended his season after just two outings in 2024 and it appears Levesque is going to make the most of his last go-round with the Rams. Heading into this year he had made 51 career appearances, 38 of those were starts and he put together a sparkling 232:56 K-to-BB ratio. Rhode Island looks like they will be a real force in the A10 and maybe Levesque can help lead them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.

February 17

Perfect Game/Player of the Week

Marek Houston, IF, Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons are off to a perfect (4-0) start to the season and their junior shortstop has done most of the heavy lifting thus far. The 6-3/205 shortstop from Nokomis, Florida dedicated himself to adding more physicality over the offseason and the results are paying huge dividends already. Using his compact swing and added strength at contact, Houston is launching balls out of “the Couch” at a record breaking pace. In the first 4-games of the season his slash line is .714/1.429/.789 with a double, 3-home runs, 2-stolen bases and he has driven in a ridiculous 13 runs already. With a defensive skillset that was ahead of his hit tool most of his career, if the bat stays on track Houston is putting himself in great position to be an early Day 1 selection in the coming MLB Draft.

Perfect Game/Pitcher of the Week:

Dax Whitney, RHP, Oregon State

It’s not very common to see a true freshman open the season in the rotation for a program at the level of the Beavers. But Dax Whitney is no common freshman and was a big part of his team’s perfect (3-0) start to the year. At 6-5/204 the Blackfoot, Idaho native looks the part on the bump and uses a super abbreviated arm path and comprehensive repertoire to produce explosive stuff. His riding fastball is reported to have peaked at 98 mph and cruised in the mid-90s throughout his first career start. He backed that up with an abrupt mid-80s slider and heavy downer of a curve in the upper-70s. All three offerings are legit swing and miss pitches and he held his velocity deep into the outing. In his first career start he went 5.0 IP on just 84 pitches, allowing 4 hits, no runs, 1 free pass while striking out 8 batters. Oregon State are once again national title contenders and they are fortunate to have landed Whitney on campus.