West Virginia advances to first College World Series in program history, defeating Cal Poly in NCAA Super Regionals

West Virginia is going to its first Men’s College World Series in program history after the Mountaineers finished off a sweep of Cal Poly in the NCAA tournament super regionals at Morgantown, W. Va.

The No. 16 Mountaineers finished off the Mustangs and clinched a trip to Omaha with a 17-1 win on Saturday. Ben Lumsden hit 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI, while Maxx Yehl allowed one run over five innings with four strikeouts to lead West Virginia.

Cal Poly took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Ryan Tayman sacrifice fly that scored Nate Castellon. That would be the only run the Mustangs scored on Saturday.

Play 2026 Soccer Pick 'Em with FOX One and make your picks for the world's biggest soccer tournament

West Virginia aggressively seized the lead in the second inning, first scoring when Matthew Graveline stole home. He led off the frame with a double, then stole third during a five-pitch walk to Matt Ineich. Ineich stole second base and as Tayman tried to throw him out, Graveline dashed for home.

Following a walk to Brodie Kresser, Cal Poly starter Carson Turnquist then served up back-to-back home runs to Lumsden and Tyrus Hall for a 5-1 Mountaineers lead.

After Turnquist hit Armani Guzman with a pitch, Chris Downs took over for Cal Poly but walked Gavin Kelly and gave up an RBI single to Sean Smith. Batting for the second time in the inning, Graveline drove Kelly in with a groundout to go ahead 7-1.

West Virginia increased its lead to 10-1 in the third on a two-run homer by Guzman and RBI single from Paul Schoenfeld. Lumsden hit his second home run of the game in the fourth, a two-run shot that increased the Mountaineers’ lead to 12-1.