Lonnie White Jr. a big hit -- literally -- in professional baseball debut

Former Penn State football signee and current Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguer Lonnie White Jr., had quite literally a perfect start to his professional baseball career.

The former two-sport star at Malvern Prep who opted for a career on the diamond instead of the gridiron was 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles during Thursday's game with the Pittsburgh Pirates Black Team, which marked his Florida Complex League debut.

White, who started in right field and batted fifth for the rookie league club, recorded his first hit in his initial at-bat when he smashed a pitch to left-center field that advanced a runner to third.

Then, in the fourth, the ball jumped off his bat again and hit the left-field wall. White Jr., was ultimately stranded on second but showcased why the Pirates gave him a reported $1.5 million signing bonus to pick baseball over football after the National League team drafted him with the No. 64 overall pick in July's draft.

Thanks to video from his mom, Reggie White, you can see both swings in the Twitter embeds below:

White Jr., initially signed with Penn State's Class of 2021 back in December after verbally committing to head coach James Franklin's program back on Nov. 16, 2019. The Lions fought hard to get him to State College and even hosted him for a visit in June prior to the Draft, but ultimately, playing baseball was what he wanted to do.

“I just want Lonnie to be successful and I want Lonnie to be happy,” Franklin told reporters at Big Ten Media Days in late July before White's decision was official. "If that means Penn State and playing football and baseball and, hopefully, getting his degree from Penn State and playing in the NFL and possibly, major league baseball, then, awesome.

“If that means him going to play baseball right now and chasing that dream, I just want him to have all of the information to be able to make an educated decision and then go from there.”

Penn State receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield was also asked about White Jr., less than 24 hours before his big day on the diamond.

"Obviously we want the best for Lonnie White," Stubblefield said. "Of course we miss him because we thought he was a heck of a football player, heck of a person. His family, they're absolutely awesome. We're fired up. I know I'm going to watch a few more baseball games and maybe look at some stats more than I normally do."

The Nittany Lions' freshmen class was ultimately reduced to just two receivers, Liam Clifford and Harrison Wallace III, and Stubblefield praised both this week.

"Both of them are having a really good camp," he said.

"They're getting a lot of snaps, they're improving every day. I'm excited to see just their growth throughout fall camp, and then just throughout the season."

Penn State opens the 2021 football season on Sept. 4 at Wisconsin. Kickoff is set for Noon on FOX.

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