West Virginia runs away early, evens ASU series

The scoreboard didn’t reflect it. The final result didn’t reflect it. Friday’s mercy-rule win for No. 22 ASU over No. 17 West Virginia masked just how challenging this Mountaineer lineup could be.

Long at-bats, sharp eyes, relentless focus, a small-ball approach designed to move runners inch by inch, compact swings aimed at exploiting gaps in the defense. That is West Virginia’s game, and backed by the Big 12’s top pitching staff by ERA entering the series, it has carried them to countless wins.

ASU executed at a high level Friday, barreling four home runs and showcasing enough firepower to neutralize West Virginia’s methodical grind. But against junior left-hander Max Yehl, with a 0.84 ERA and ranked sixth nationally, ASU would not enjoy the same margin for error. To compete, they would have to match a pitchers’ duel; a slugfest was out of the question.

Saturday’s matchup, however, never came close to a duel. While Yehl delivered yet another standout outing, junior right-hander Alex Overbay struggled from the first pitch. After allowing nine earned runs in 4.1 innings over his previous two outings, his woes continued Saturday, lasting just 2.1 innings while surrendering seven earned runs and nine hits. Meanwhile, Yehl cruised through seven innings, giving up three runs as West Virginia (18-5, 6-2 Big 12) dominated ASU (20-7, 5-3 Big 12), winning 13-7 to even the series.

The game was an uphill climb from the second inning. The hole was too deep for even sophomore Landon Hairston, who had eight RBIs in Friday’s win, to dig out of. 

“Got behind big early, and the bullpen did a good job keeping us in there. Tried to scratch a few runs across to make it interesting,” head coach Willie Bloomquist said. “We were behind the eight ball there early on and couldn’t scratch our way back into it, but our guys battled, and we just got to turn the page.”

Overbay opened the season as one of ASU’s most dominant bullpen arms, allowing just a single run and striking out 18 over his first 12 innings. He excelled in long relief, following junior left-hander Cole Carlon on Fridays or eating innings to keep games close.

Ahead of the LMU series, Bloomquist shifted the rotation, moving Overbay to Saturday’s start in place of junior right-hander Colin Linder. The decision made sense. Overbay had shown he could handle length and command in the rotation.

Through his fourth start, however, Overbay has offered little evidence to justify the move. A brutal three-inning stretch Saturday sealed it: three hard-hit singles in the first inning for a run, then five hits, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch in the second for six more, followed by a double and a walk in the third before the bullpen took over. 

Over his last 10.2 innings, he has allowed 16 runs, 25 hits, 10 walks, and three hit-by-pitches.

“He’s working from behind instead of working ahead,” Bloomquist said. “He’s got really good stuff, but stuff doesn’t play when you’re continuously 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 2-1. He’s got to work ahead in the counts, bottom line, and his stuff plays. His stuff’s really good, we all know that, but it doesn’t play when you’re working from behind in the count.”

The Mountaineers worked deep counts, exploited gaps in the defense, and forced Overbay into extended struggles. By the bottom of the third, ASU faced an 8-1 deficit, a mountain too steep to climb on this night.

On the other side of the diamond, Yehl was more than enough. The 6-foot-7 left-hander wasn’t perfect and didn’t rack up double-digit strikeouts like in previous outings, but his command, pitch mix, and poise kept ASU off balance and controlled the game. 

“I thought we had a really good game plan against that kid,” Bloomquist said. “He’s got a really good arm, throws from a tough angle, and he’s tall, 6 ‘7”, throws hard, and has a couple of different breaking pitches that he mixes in there… We squared a lot of balls up that were right at guys, hit some balls hard deep that didn’t get out of the ballpark. So I wasn’t too disappointed with our offensive approach against him.”

The early lead allowed Yehl to work freely, commanding 64 percent of his 106 pitches for strikes, walking none, and keeping hitters guessing with a mid-90s fastball, sweeping curve, and darting slider.

The only hitter consistently making him work was Hairston. The second-year outfielder had three hits, two walks, and a grand slam in Friday’s 14-4 win, including his fourth grand slam of the season to tie an ASU record. Hairston does not care about the reputation of the pitcher, fastball, slider, or an 0.83 ERA like Yehl’s. He finds his pitch and punishes it. Every at-bat is played on his terms.

In the first inning, Hairston lined the first pitch he saw from Yehl into left-center, stretching it into a diving double. He would score moments later on a wild pitch and a misfired pickoff from sophomore catcher Gavin Kelly. 

“Transparently, I think Landon is the best hitter I’ve ever had the opportunity to play with,” graduate outfielder Matt Polk said. “Swinging strikes, taking balls—not just swinging strikes, but hammer strikes. I think he’s really a one-of-a-kind hitter, or a one-of-a-kind overall talent on the baseball field, and I’m just glad he’s on our side. He’s gonna be a huge part of this run.”

Coming into the game with a .470 average, second-best in the country, Hairston stood alone as ASU’s primary hope. Across seven innings, Yehl allowed only three hits to the rest of the lineup, all singles, neutralizing ASU’s offense.

Hairston tried to do it himself again in the fifth. With two outs and junior outfielder Dominic Longo at first after a hit-by-pitch, Hairston worked a 3-1 count. Yehl was forced to throw a strike and left a slider up. Hairston unloaded, sending it over the right-field fence near the ASU bullpen. Yehl had allowed opponents to hit just .170 on his slider, but Hairston pays no mind.

Junior right-hander Jaden Alba stabilized ASU in relief of Overbay, throwing 3.2 hitless innings, but once he left the game, the bullpen could not hold. Five more earned runs crossed, including a three-run shot from Polk in the ninth that proved meaningless. West Virginia won 13-7, tying the series as ASU looks to the rubber match tomorrow.

“We’re gonna have to be in these types of dogfight games tomorrow,” Bloomquist said. “We anticipate tomorrow being one, so we knew that things aren’t going to be a cakewalk, and there’s going to be adversity throughout the year. We’re going to have to dig deep and find out what we’re made of, and tomorrow’s a good example of that. So hopefully we’ll be battle-tested, maybe this helps us later on in the year.”