Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
WACO, Texas — Maxx Yehl struck out 12 batters as West Virginia downed Baylor 8-0 on Sunday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark to clinch the series.
After missing last season due to an injury, Yehl has been a steady presence for the Mountaineers through five outings, delivering his best outing of the season against the Bears. The junior left-hander tossed eight scoreless frames, surrendering just three hits.
Yehl’s 12 strikeouts were the most strikeouts since Griffin Kirn struck out 14 against Utah last season and the most by a WVU pitcher away from Morgantown since Ryan Bergert struck out 14 against St. Joseph’s in 2020 in Myrtle Beach.
Armani Guzman and Gavin Kelly paced the Mountaineers (13-4) with two hits apiece.
Ethan Calder (1-2) suffered the loss for the Bears (11-8), allowing three runs on five hits in 6.1 innings.
Yehl and Calder were engaged in a pitcher’s duel before WVU got on the scoreboard in the sixth when Graveline blasted his fourth home run of the season.
Yehl ran into some trouble in the third, giving up back-to-back singles before retiring the next two batters.
In the seventh, the Mountaineers broke the game open, adding three insurance runs. Brodie Kresser hit a sacrifice fly before Guzman doubled to left field, plating Sean Smith and Brock Wills. Guzman then scored on a passed ball.
In the ninth, the Mountaineers tacked on three more runs to take an 8-0 lead. Freshman reliever David Perez struck out the side to close out WVU’s third shutout of the season, matching the total from last season.
The Mountaineers return to Kendrick Family Ballpark on Tuesday against Penn State before opening a three-game series beginning on Thursday against BYU.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
