West Virginia’s dominant regular season was rewarded Tuesday as redshirt junior Maxx Yehl was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, highlighting a group of four Mountaineers selected to the All-Big 12 First Team.

Sophomore catcher Gavin Kelly, sophomore pitcher Chansen Cole and graduate student pitcher Ian Korn joined Yehl on the first team, while senior outfielder Paul Schoenfeld earned second-team honors. Five more Mountaineers received honorable mention recognition as No. 18 West Virginia continues one of the best seasons in program history.

The four first-team selections are the most for WVU since joining the Big 12 and the program’s most all-conference first-team picks since 2009. West Virginia also became just the sixth team in conference history to place three pitchers on the All-Big 12 First Team.

Yehl’s comeback season anchored the honors list after the right-hander missed the entire 2025 campaign. The Portville, New York, native went 7-2 with a 2.10 earned run average, which led the Big 12 and ranked seventh nationally entering postseason play. He struck out 88 batters in 73 innings while holding opponents to a .222 batting average.

Yehl became the third Mountaineer to earn Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors, joining Harrison Musgrave in 2013 and Alek Manoah in 2019. He is also the first WVU player to win a major conference award since JJ Wetherholt was named Big 12 Player of the Year in 2023.

West Virginia (37-13, 21-9 Big 12) returns to action Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.