West Virginia’s quest for a Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship continues.
The Mountaineers hit into three inning-ending double plays over the first five innings and squandered another prime scoring opportunity in the sixth while unable to solve Kansas in a 9-0 loss at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Ariz.
A No. 2 seed ranked No. 9 nationally, WVU (39-14) was 11-1 in May prior to Saturday’s setback, including a three-game sweep at Kansas in the second-to-last weekend of the regular season.
This time around, top seed and No. 13 Kansas (42-16) gained a 1-0 lead on Tyson Owens’ home run with one out in the bottom of the first inning.
WVU produced a pair of baserunners in the second but couldn’t solve KU starting pitcher Mathis Nayral, though Ian Korn overcame Owens’ early home run to give the Mountaineers another strong outing.
When Brodie Kresser and Brock Wills accounted for consecutive singles to start the fifth, West Virginia was in prime position to pull even or perhaps go in front. Both runners moved into scoring position on Tyrus Hall’s sacrifice bunt, before Matt Ineich legged out an infield single that went mere feet in front of the plate.
With the bases loaded and one out, Nayral was relieved by Toby Scheidt, who got ahead of Gavin Kelly 0-2 and induced a fly ball to right for the second out, with KU completing a double play by throwing out Kresser at the plate to end that inning.
Still, Korn logged his fourth straight scoreless frame in the bottom of that inning to keep the Mountaineers within a run.
WVU threatened again in the sixth and had the bases loaded with one out after Armani Guzman worked a walk, but Kansas first baseman Josh Dykhoff tracked down a fly ball from Kresser in shallow right for the second out, before Wills sent a ground ball to shortstop for the final out.
KU then doubled its lead that inning after Dykhoff prolonged it by drawing a walk with two outs, and two batters later, Jordan Bach sent a single to right that scored Dykhoff from second.
Any thought of a late Mountaineer rally was put to rest in the seventh as the Mountaineers came undone.
Tyson LeBlanc singled to bring in the first of six runs that inning, and the next three came on Dykhoff’s 449-foot home run to right.
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!!!!@joshdykhoff crushes a 3-run HR for his 15th of the year 💣
BOT 7 | Kansas 6, West Virginia 0 pic.twitter.com/HbouNwSpOU
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) May 24, 2026
At that point, Dawson Montesa relieved Reese Bassinger, but less than 24 hours after finishing off a 7-3 win against Arizona State in a semifinal, Montesa immediately surrendered back-to-back solo home runs to Augusto Mungarrieta and Bach.
Guzman’s second error of the outing enabled the Jayhawks to score a ninth and final run in the eighth.
WVU had six hits, but none for extra bases.
Korn suffered his first loss this season but was solid in defeat, allowing two runs on five hits over 5.2 innings. He struck out and walked a pair.
LeBlanc had a game-high three hits to key KU, which totaled 11.
Scheidt was credited with the win after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings. Nayral allowed four hits over 4.1 scoreless innings.
WVU is 13-22 all-time in Big 12 Tournament play and 0-3 in the championship.
Both Kansas and WVU now prepare for NCAA Tournament play.
The 16 regional hosts will be announced at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, while the selection show revealing the entire 64-team field is at noon Monday.