No. 18 West Virginia Shuts Out Cats in Series Opener

Friday, May 1

Morgantown, W.V.

5:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

26-20, 9-13

West Virginia

29-12, 14-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Kansas State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
West Virginia	1	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	X	7	11	0

May 01, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MORGANTOWN, W.V. – A pair of West Virginia pitchers combined to shut out K-State Friday night, as the 18^th-ranked Mountaineers defeated the Wildcats, 7-0, Friday night at Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.

With the win, the Mountaineers improved to 29-12 overall with a 14-8 mark in Big 12 play, while K-State dropped to 26-20 and 9-13.

"We had a difficult time building scoring opportunities the entire night," head coach Pete Hughes said. "[Maxx] Yehl and [Ian] Korn were really good and really limited our offense."

Right-hander Maxx Yehl tossed five shutout innings of three-hit ball to earn the win, striking out eight of the 21 batters he faced. Ian Korn entered the game in the sixth and held the Wildcats to one hit over the final four frames to pick up his first save.

"We're going to have to be better tomorrow on both sides and be a better two-out team for us to get back in the series," Hughes added. "Tazwell Butler pitched well enough in his first start. Wish we were able to provide some support to his outing."

In his first start since April 16, 2025, Butler (0-3) limited the Mountaineers to three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. He finished the night allowing eight hits and issuing two walks, while striking out three.

THE RUNDOWN
WVU plated a run in the opening frame behind an RBI double from Paul Schoenfeld. After a scoreless second, the Mountaineers stretched their lead to 2-0 on Sean Smith's sacrifice fly.

The Mountaineers loaded the bases in the fifth, but were held to one run with the help of a run-saving diving catch by center fielder Cadyn Karl.

Yehl allowed just three hits through five innings before handing the ball over to Korn, who retired six consecutive batters before allowing a runner to reach base.

Trailing 7-0, Ty Smolinski led off the ninth inning with the team's first extra-base hit of the night – a double off the right field wall. The Nebraska native was left stranded as Korn set down the Cats in order to finish off his first save of the year.

INSIDE THE BOX

WVU scored seven runs on 11 hits, committed no errors and stranded eight on base, while K-State was held scoreless and had four hits with one error and eight left on base.
Seven different players recorded a hit for WVU, led by three from Schoenfeld (3-for-5).
Brodie Kesser led the Mountaineers with two RBI.
Smolinski had two of the Cats four hits followed by Madliak and Karl with one.
Butler (0-3) suffered the loss, allowing three runs (earned) on eight hits over his 5 2/3-inning start, striking out three with two walks.
Yehl (6-1) earned the win, allowing three hits over five innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
Korn earned his first save.
WVU was 3-for-13 (.231) with runners in scoring position and 6-for-21 (.286) with runners on base while K-State was 0-for-7 and 1-for-15 (.067) with runners on.

TEAM NOTES

WVU leads the all-time series 22-17, that includes a 12-4 advantage for games played in Morgantown.
With the loss, K-State drops its fifth straight. It marks the longest losing streak of the season.

PLAYER NOTES

Butler made his first start of the season after 17 relief outings. It was his first start since April 16, 2025, at Northeastern.
Smolinski became the seventh player this season to record 10 multi-hit games this season. He has registered a hit in five consecutive games.

ON DECK
Game two is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT Saturday and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM), while a free a free live stream audio is available for K-State baseball games at kstatesports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

– k-statesports.com –

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Baseball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.