OMAHA, Neb. — With a fielding percentage of .980 through 61 games, West Virginia ranked among the better defensive teams in all of college baseball.
On Sunday night, a pair of seventh-inning errors along with an inability to capitalize on quality scoring chances spoiled a stellar start from Maxx Yehl and left the Mountaineers with a 5-2 loss to North Carolina at Charles Schwab Field.
“North Carolina’s a good team, and eventually that stuff kind of stacks on top of each other,” WVU coach Steve Sabins said. “But in general, errors happen. The mental errors, as a coach, can drive you crazy and you try to get those out of there. The physical stuff happens.”
The result puts No. 16 WVU (46-16) on the brink of elimination and the No. 5 Tar Heels (52-12-1) within one victory of a spot in the Men’s College World Series Finals. The Mountaineers will take on Troy (39-31) at 1 p.m. (CST) Tuesday after the Trojans prolonged their season earlier Sunday with a 12-8 victory against Ole Miss. The winner will then play UNC on Wednesday and need two victories before a loss to advance.
“We’ve been there before and in this situation,” WVU second baseman Brodie Kresser said. “Just have to wipe it and bounce back on Tuesday.”
With the game tied at 2 in the top of the seventh, Tyrus Hall connected for a two-out single and stole second, but Walker McDuffie retired Armani Guzman on a well-hit fly ball to right to prevent the Mountaineers from leading for the first time.
To start the home half of the seventh, No. 8 hitter Colin Hynek reached on a Hall error when the third baseman was unable to cleanly field a chopper that had him moving to his left.
“We made some errors in the middle of the game, including me, that kind of bit us in the ass a little bit,” Hall said. “Yehl pitched a hell of a game.”
Postgame thoughts from Tyrus Hall following West Virginia’s 5-2 loss to North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/AhnMe4NBJ0
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) June 15, 2026
Following the first out, WVU starting pitcher Maxx Yehl was in position to potentially get out of the inning entirely when Jake Schaffner sent a ground ball to second base that Kresser was unable to come up with, leaving the Tar Heels with two on.
Gavin Gallaher made sure the Mountaineers paid for the miscues by hitting a triple to the gap in right-center to plate a pair of runs, and UNC gained the first three-run lead of the matchup when Owen Hull followed with a single to center.
“We preach defense and pitching here at UNC. We know how important that is, especially when you’re playing in Omaha on the biggest stage,” Gallaher said. “So when other teams make those mistakes, it’s important that you capitalize, because, you know, when you get to this point in the season, you’re not going to get many chances like that. Fortunately, they did make those mistakes and we capitalized.”
McDuffie, who threw 3.2 scoreless innings, retired the side in order in the eighth, and the lead remained three runs when Mountaineer relief pitcher Reese Bassinger got out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of that frame.
West Virginia threatened in the ninth and got the tying run to the plate after Matt Ineich worked a walk and Kresser followed with a single. Forbes called on freshman Caden Glauber, who fell behind Ben Lumsden 3-1, but battled back to record a strikeout and followed it up with another one on three pitches to retire Hall for the final out.
“McDuffie threw the ball fantastic. And then Glauber at the end, that guy’s nasty, and they’re riding him pretty good,” Sabins said. “That fastball was like 94, 95, 97, and it’s kind of a low-arm slot. Almost side arm with some serious extension. So it’s a little different look but it’s a pretty electric fastball there.”
It was Glauber’s fifth save this season, while he has an 11-0 record and the Tar Heels improved to 27-0 in his appearances.
“Zero thought of anybody else except Caden Glauber,” UNC coach Steve Forbes said.
Postgame thoughts from Brodie Kresser following West Virginia’s 5-2 loss to North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/9ozi1gPcWT
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) June 15, 2026
A tough start for WVU left the Mountaineers playing from behind.
Schaffner singled in UNC’s first at bat after a missed call prolonged his at bat. He had swung and missed at a 1-2 pitch that hit him in the shoulder and was ruled a foul ball, and Yehl battled control issues later in the inning that saw him hit Macon Winslow and force in the first run on a four-pitch walk to Erik Paulsen.
Cooper Nicholson’s groundout brought a second run in for UNC, though Yehl limited the damage as the Tar Heels stranded two in scoring position and settled for the 2-0 lead.
“Felt really good in the first. Felt I was executing my pitches,” Yehl said. “They were hitting ground balls in spots we weren’t at. So it was kind of out of my control, out of everyone’s controls. It just happens. So it’s just going out there, feeling good and trying to replicate that. The next inning was my mentality.”
Guzman’s third-inning single scored Lumsden to cut the deficit in half. The Mountaineers had a chance to draw closer that inning and Guzman was originally ruled to have been safe stealing third base, but the call was overturned on a review and UNC maintained its one-run advantage.
The Mountaineers got even in the fourth after Sean Smith worked a leadoff walk and moved to third on Matthew Graveline’s single, though the run came as a result of a double play ball by Ineich to second base.
“I told him that I thought that was the biggest pitch of the game,” Forbes said. “The momentum had shifted a little bit. and they had first and third with no outs. And then, boom, just like that, they only get one run. It’s 2-2, and we get back in the dugout.”
While the contest remained tied at 2, Yehl settled in and then some, retiring seven straight starting with the final out of the fourth and 15 of 18 altogether between the second and sixth innings.
However, WVU squandered its best opportunity to gain its only lead in the top of the sixth, which ended with a second double play ball off the bat of Ineich, who came to bat with runners at first and second.
“We had plenty of chances to score some runs, but it just didn’t happen today,” Hall said.
Yehl threw seven innings, allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked one. Three of his five runs allowed were unearned.
“Tremendous outing,” Sabins said. “Really gave us a chance to win that ball game. Had some great individual performances. Didn’t play our cleanest baseball. When you give great teams opportunities, North Carolina was able to take advantage of that.”
Guzman was 2-for-3 and drew a walk, but was the only Mountaineer with more than one hit.
The Mountaineers finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“Even at the end of that game, you can see we weren’t out of it. We’ll never be out of any game,” Guzman said. “We’ll practice tomorrow, do what we have to do, and then when it comes to Troy, we’re just going to try to win a pitch when it comes that time.”
UNC starting pitcher Ryan Lynch pitched 4.2 innings and allowed a pair of runs on five hits before giving way to McDuffie, who struck out four and scattered three hits.
Hull and Carter French had two hits apiece to combine for half of the Tar Heels’ eight knocks.