Yehl sets the tone early
Maxx Yehl got the start for the Mountaineers Friday. Yehl started the day by retiring the Wildcats in order and recording one strike out. West Virginia faced pitcher Tazwell Butler in the bottom of the first. Following a ground out from Matt Ineich and a walk to Gavin Kelly, Paul Schoenfeld stepped to the plate and smacked a double to left to score Kelly and give WVU a 1-0 advantage. The inning ended after a fly out from Sean Smith and a strike out to Matthew Graveline.
Following a strike out to Bear Madliak, Ty Smolinski gave Kansas State their first hit of the evening. Yehl answered by striking out Grant Gallagher. Cadyn Karl smacked a ball the ricocheted off Tyrus Hall, Karl reached first base safely. Micah Kendrick grounded out to end the inning with no runs for the Wildcats.
WVU was unable to add to their lead in the bottom of the second with the only hit being a single from Brock Wills.
Yehl opened the top of the third with a strike out to Chandler Murray. After walking Nick English, Yehl struck out Dee Kennedy, English stole second on the third strike pitch. English was ultimately thrown out at home after a wild pitch reached the back stop, a heads up play by Gavin Kelly to find Yehl at the plate for the tag out.
Mountaineers extend the lead
Ineich opened the bottom of the third with a single. Kelly followed with a double to shallow right. Following a Schoenfeld pop out that was unable to score either of the runners, Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Ineich from third and allowing Kelly to advance to third. Graveline stepped to the plate and smacked a ball that was snagged by third baseman Grant Gallagher to end the inning with WVU up 2-0. Madliak singled after a strikeout to Shintaro Inoue to open the top of the fourth. After the Madliak single, Smolinski was hit by a pitch to give the Wildcats another base runner. Gallagher flew out to right to advance the runner to third. Karl was unable to drive in the Wildcats first run of the night thanks to a groundout to end the inning.
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Armani Guzman opened the bottom of the fourth with a single up the middle. Brodie Kresser grounded out but was able to advance Guzman to second. Guzman was left stranded after a strike out to Brock Wills and a fly out from Hall. Micah Kendrick opened the top of the fifth with a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Yehl responded with back-to-back strike outs to Murray and English. Kennedy reached base after being hit by a pitch. The inning ended with a ground out to Inoue.
WVU adds insurance in the fifth
Ineich walked to open the bottom of the fifth. After a fly out by Kelly, Schoenfeld singled to right. Sean Smith stepped to the plate and loaded the bases on a perfect swinging bunt. Graveline hit a sacrifice fly to score another run for WVU, giving them a 3-0 advantage. Guzman grounded out to end the inning.
Ian Korn started the top of the sixth inning for WVU. Korn retired the Wildcats in order, recording one strike out.
Kresser opened the bottom of the sixth by singling off a ball that bounced off the third baseman. After a fly out to Wills and a strikeout to Hall, Kansas State went to the bullpen and brought in pitcher Adam Arther. Arther retired Ineich on a fly out to end the inning.
Korn again retired the Wildcats in order and recorded another strike out.
Mountaineers explode in the seventh
Following a Kelly ground out to start the bottom of the seventh, Schoenfeld singled up the middle. Smith followed by walking on four pitches. Graveline flew out to advance the runners to second and third. Guzman gave WVU another base runner after being hit by a pitch to load the bases.
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The Wildcats went to the bullpen again, this time bringing in Cohen Feser. Kresser welcomed Feser by singling up the middle to score two more runs and give WVU a 5-0 lead. Guzman scored from third thanks to a failed throw to second base attempting to catch Smith stealing (6-0 WVU). Wills singled to left to score Smith and make the score 7-0 WVU. Hall struck out to end the inning.
Korn walked English to open the top of the eighth. Kennedy smacked a ball to second that allowed WVU to retire English at second base. The inning finished with back-to-back fly outs from Inoue and Madliak. The Mountaineers went down in order in the bottom of the eighth.
Korn finishes off the Wildcats
Korn gave up a double to Smolinski to open the top of the ninth. He followed by shutting the door on the Wildcats after a groundout to Gallagher, a fly out from Karl, and a ground out to Kendrick to secure the 7-0 victory for the Mountaineers.
