MORGANTOWN — No. 15 West Virginia baseball bested Houston in Game 2 to force another rubber match on Sunday, but lost some crucial pieces in the process.

The Mountaineers scored seven runs in the second half of the game to beat the Cougars 7-1. WVU and Houston play the final game in the series on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

The Mountaineers moved to 26-9 overall and 10-4 in the Big 12. The 11-6 record is the third-best record in the conference. Houston is 17-20 on the year and 4-13 in conference.

WVU secured the win, but its top hitter, Gavin Kelly, was injured and had to move from catcher to second. The Mountaineers’ best pitcher and Saturday starter, Maxx Yehl, also left the game with an injury in the third inning.

Without its best players, WVU took Game 2, and like Friday night, the bats took a little bit to get rolling. In the fifth inning, Matthew Graveline had a sacrifice bunt, which scored Armani Guzman and the first run of the game. Guzman and Graveline contributed to two more runs in the sixth inning. Guzman had singled on a bunt to score a run, and Graveline singled to score another. Brock Wills kept the inning going with another RBI single. After six, WVU was up 4-0.

Brodie Kresser singled to score two in the next inning, and Sean Smith singled to bring in another. WVU was up 7-1, which was enough to take the game.

Kresser and Graveline led the team with two RBIs apiece. Guzman and Wills led with two hits each, and WVU had 10 hits on the day. The Mountaineers did strike out 10 times, which was the ninth game with double-digit strikeouts.

With Yehl injured and only pitching two full innings, Steve Sabins had to rely heavily on the bullpen. Most of the support came from Division II transfer Ian Korn. Korn was dominant. He pitched five innings, allowed three hits, struck out four and walked a batter. Korn allowed just one run. He was credited with the win, which was his third of the season, and he’s yet to lose a game. Korn’s five innings was his most this season.

Reese Bassinger pitched the final two innings, didn’t allow a hit and struck out three. It was one of the best bullpen performances from WVU in one of the most needed moments. If WVU’s bullpen doesn’t help out Yehl, the Mountaineers are looking at a series loss to the worst team in the Big 12.

Chansen Cole is the bump for the Mountaineers in Sunday’s game. Cole had his best outing in his last showing, going into the ninth inning. He’ll need another big start to hand WVU another series win.