Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (40-15) were toppled by the Kentucky Wildcats (33-21) Saturday evening on day two of the Morgantown Regional 11-9.
West Virginia starting pitcher Yehl struggled to find control from the outset and the opportunistic Wildcats jumped out to a significant lead. Kentucky junior Jayce Tharnish drew a leadoff walk and a routine ground ball to second from sophomore Tyler Bell was bobbled by senior Brodie Kresser to put two aboard. After scraping the first out on a ground ball, Yehl beaned redshirt sophomore Hudson Brown to load the bases, setting up a two RBI single from Ethan Hindle. Then, Braxton VanCleave blasted a two-run home run for a 4-0 advantage.
Yehl hit Carson Hansen on the 3-0 pitch and his afternoon was done after a brief visit to the mound from WVU head coach Steve Sabins and the training staff.
Sabins handed the ball to Ian Korn and the senior got the Mountaineers out of the inning.
Kentucky added to its lead in the third when Tharnish and Bell opened the inning with consecutive singles before Luke Lawrence one-hopped an RBI double off the right field wall. Then, after Hudson was hit for the second time in the evening, Hindle brought in a run on with a fielder's choice to short for a 6-0 Wildcats' lead.
