GRANVILLE — Chandler Murray couldn’t catch up to the high heat. Nick English completely froze as another fastball tucked just under the “K-State” on his jersey.
Curveballs hugged the corners and offspeed pitches weren’t off all that much.
“Just being able to go back out there again and have some fun,” was how WVU pitcher Maxx Yehl described his performance.
The only news that came out of No. 18 WVU’s 7-0 victory against Kansas State inside Kendrick Family Ballpark on Friday night was the news that mattered most: Yehl is back on the mound for the Mountaineers.
“Nice to have Maxx Yehl back,” was how WVU head coach Steve Sabins stated the obvious. “His velocity was higher, the breaking ball was sharper. His stuff was actually better. This might have been the best stuff he’s had in his career, actually.
“You don’t pitch for a long time and sometimes you’re rusty or you have trouble finding the strike zone. He just shows up and throws five innings of three-hit baseball against a good team. It’s very impressive.”
In his return to the hill since his left arm and shoulder gave out on him on April 18 against Houston, the sturdy 6-foot-6 lefty was back to his dominant self and certainly more than good enough to keep the Mountaineers (29-12, 14-8 Big 12) in contention for one of the top spots in the Big 12 standings.
He threw 87 pitches – his top speed hit 95 mph a couple of times – while allowing just three hits, no runs and struck out eight. Yehl picked up the win to improve to 6-1 on the season.
Kansas State (26-20, 9-13), which will enter Saturday’s Game 2 with a five-game losing streak, only got three runners into scoring position against Yehl. The closest the Wildcats came to scoring against him was when English tried to score from second base on a passed ball in the third inning. WVU catcher Gavin Kelly simply lobbed the ball to Yehl at the plate and English was out by about 10 feet.
“I saw the ball go by and I was thinking he wasn’t going to go home,” Yehl said. “I saw him rounding (third) hard, so I was like, ‘OK, here we go.’ I saw him coming, and I’m not going to lie, I kind of blacked out a little bit. I don’t recall catching it, but I put the tag on him and got out of the inning without allowing a run, so I was happy about that.”
It was just less than two weeks ago when Yehl – the BIg 12 leader in earned run average at 2.20 – seemed to be cruising yet again. That was until he felt his pitching arm and shoulder go a little numb in the third inning and had to come out of the game.
Having just undergone Tommy John surgery in 2024 and missing all of last season, it was the last thing Yehl wanted.
“Definitely a lot of questions were going through my mind as I was being taken out of the game,” Yehl said. “I know the people I work with and I’m grateful to have the people here who put me in the best position to stay healthy. Obviously, I was a little frustrated.”
The thought of missing the rest of the season never crossed his mind, though.
“Nothing like that,” he said. “(Dr. Keith) Meister, who did my surgery two years ago, I have nothing but respect for the guy. I know he got me where I needed to be.”
In the days and weeks that followed the Houston game, Yehl’s life was a mixture of massages, getting back to a strict diet and taking dives into the cold tub.
Not that Yehl pitches every game, but WVU was 3-3 without his services and had begun to slide away from the Big 12 leaders. With Yehl back, Sabins said WVU’s fortunes took a turn for the better.
“Without a doubt,” Sabins said. “Whatever hand you’re dealt, you just work with it. You really just set up guys to give them the best chance to win and you go to work. It’s a next-man-up mentality, but obviously you can’t replace the best pitcher in the Big 12.
“There’s not a next man up there. He’s the best guy in our league and he’s been absolutely dominant all year. When he’s in there, we’re a lot better.”
WVU reliever Ian Korn came on to pitch the final four innings and was just as impressive, as the Mountaineers picked up their fifth shutout victory of the season. Korn allowed just one hit – it didn’t come until the ninth inning – and earned his first save of the season.
The five shutouts are the most since the 2024 season, when WVU also had five.
As for WVU’s offense, the Mountaineers did most of their damage with a four-run seventh inning, highlighted by Brodie Kresser’s two-run single with the bases loaded.
Paul Schoenfeld went 3 for 5 with an RBI double in the first inning and Kresser and Brock Wills each had two hits.
