MORGANTOWN — Maxx Yehl’s consecutive scoreless-inning streak ended at 16 on Saturday. It mattered little, as the junior lefty was still dominant during No. 20 WVU’s 11-1 victory over BYU inside Kendrick Family Ballpark.
The game was stopped in the eighth inning due to the mercy rule.
The Mountaineers (16-4, 5-1 Big 12) swept the three-game series and won their fifth in a row against the Cougars (10-12, 2-4), as Yehl went seven innings, while allowing just five hits, one run and struck out 11.
His streak of scoreless innings began on March 8 against Columbia, when he didn’t allow a run over his final three innings that day. He then pitched eight scoreless innings against Baylor on March 15 that also saw him set a career-high with 12 strikeouts.
Against BYU, Yehl had a shutout going through five innings, as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 5-0 lead. WVU’s offense got a kickstart in the second inning when both Armani Guzman and Tyrus Hall both stole home.
That was all the run support Yehl basically needed. His scoreless streak finally ended in the top of the sixth inning, when Crew McChesney led off with a solo home run for BYU’s lone score of the day.
On the season, Yehl is 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched.
WVU scored three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to force an early ending. Sean Smith hit a solo home run and Gavin Kelly scored two more with a base hit in the seventh. Matthew Graveline drew a bases-loaded walk, Guzman had a fielder’s-choice RBI and Hall hit a sacrifice fly to score Smith for his second RBI of the game to end it.
Kelly went 2 for 4 with two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to 15 games and Smith also added a triple to go with his home run.
WVU will take a five-game winning streak with it to Huntington at 6 p.m. Tuesday, when the Mountaineers go on the road to face in-state rival Marshall. WVU will then travel to Tempe, Ariz. for a three game series against Arizona State that begins Friday.
