Maxx Yehl Shines in Return as No. 18 West Virginia Blanks Kansas State

The No. 18 West Virginia Mountaineers (29-12, 14-8) handled the Kansas State Wildcats (26-20, 9-13) Friday night 7-0 in the first of a three-game series.

West Virginia starting pitcher Maxx Yehl returned to the starting weekend rotation after missing last week with a shoulder injury and made his first game one start of the season. The redshirt junior threw five scoreless innings and recorded eight strikeouts on the night to collect his sixth win of the season.

Yeh received early run support after the Mountaineers put up a pair of runs in the first three innings. In the bottom of the first, sophomore Gavin Kelly worked out of an 0-2 count to receive a one-out walk before senior Paul Schoenfeld sliced an RBI double into the left centerfield gap for the early 1-0 advantage.

In the third, sophomore Matt Ineich hit a ground ball past the outreached glove of redshirt freshman first baseman Chandler Murray for a leadoff single and Kelly followed with a single to right field and moved to second on the throw to third before senior Sean Smith delivered a one-out RBI sacrifice fly to centerfield for a 2-0 lead.

West Virginia tacked on a run in the fifth when Ineich was issued a leadoff walk, Schoenfeld accompanied Ineich on the base pads with a one-out single to right field, Smith loaded the bases on a check swing, and senior Matthew Graveline hit a sac fly to centerfield to extend the lead, 3-0.

The Mountaineers added insurance runs in the seventh. Schoenfeld captured the momentum with a one-out single back up the middle and Smith received a four-pitch walk before junior Armani Guzman was beaned to load the bases. Then, with a full count, Brodie Kresser beat the shift, rolling a two-RBI single through the right side. Guzman and Kresser pulled off a double steal to stratch another run across and senior Brock Wills capped the inning with a line drive to left field for an RBI single for a four-run seventh inning.

After Yehl’s strong start, graduate senior Ian Korn took the ball and kept the Wildcats off the board, allowing one hit in four innings and registered a pair of strikeouts as the Mountaineers captured the series opener with a 7-0 decision.

West Virginia looks to clinch the series in game two Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.