WVU Baseball on Ropes After Late Miscues in Loss to Tar Heels

WVU Baseball fell 5-2 to North Carolina on Sunday, June 14, falling out of the winners’ bracket in the College World Series after a seventh-inning rally.

The Tar Heels loaded the bases in the first inning against West Virginia ace Maxx Yehl, plating runs with a walk and a groundout. Yehl rebounded to pitch seven innings, striking out seven batters on 109 pitches, but errors from Tyrus Hall and Brodie Kresser in the seventh allowed three unearned runs and tagged Yehl with the loss.

After the early deficit, Ben Lumsden and Armani Guzman singled to scratch a run across in the third; Sean Smith and Matthew Graveline reached base with no outs in fourth. Matt Ineich grounded into a double play, limiting the opportunity but plating the tying run.

Tar Heels’ starter Ryan Lynch left the game soon thereafter. Walker McDuffie entered and blanked the Mountaineers for 3.2 innings: he forced a double play in the sixth, wriggling out of a jam.

Gavin Gallaher hit a two-run triple in the seventh, breaking the deadlock. Yehl exited after a leadoff single in the eighth, queuing Reese Bassinger to finish the frame.

Ineich walked and Kresser singled with one out in the ninth, chasing McDuffie from the game with the tying run at the plate. After a pitching change, Lumsden struck out on a full count; Hall went down on three pitches to end the game.

WVU Baseball will face Troy at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, June 16 with their season on the line; they beat the Trojans 7-5 on June 12