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Cincinnati Topples No. 9 Auburn, 8-0

Bearcats capture first win vs. Top 10 opponent since 2021

Cincinnati Topples No. 9 Auburn, 8-0Cincinnati Topples No. 9 Auburn, 8-0

AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team captured its first ranked win of 2026 with an 8-0 win at No. 9 Auburn on Tuesday.

It’s the highest-ranked opponent UC has beaten since a 13-12 win vs. No. 5 Louisville in 2021. The win is also tied for the highest-ranked opponent Cincinnati has ever defeated on the road, matching an 11-10 win at No. 9 Houston in 2002.

The win was also Cincinnati’s first against an SEC team since a 2-1 victory at No. 25 Tennessee on March 10, 2017.

The last time UC shut out a ranked opponent was 2018, a 1-0 win vs. No. 24 UConn.

A year after winning a school-record six games vs. ranked opponents, the Bearcats notched one of their most impressive such wins in recent memory on Tuesday night. They never trailed, scoring the first run of the game in the top of the first inning, and kept Auburn hitless with runners in scoring position (0-for-9). The Tigers were coming off a 17-run outburst in their last game on Sunday and UC’s pitchers held them to just five hits on Tuesday.

Senior Dillon Schueler made the start and struck out four in his two innings of work. Redshirt junior Brendan Garula followed and punched out two in two scoreless frames, then junior Dominic Mauro tossed two scoreless innings as well. Junior Carson Marsh earned the win by pitching an outstanding seventh and eighth, then redshirt senior Joel Pineiro finished things off in the ninth.

Marsh has been electric this season; in two outings, the junior right-hander has combined to throw 5.0 scoreless frames while allowing just one baserunner and recording five strikeouts.  

At the plate, it was a low-scoring affair until UC scored six runs over its final two trips to the plate. Sophomore Jackson Smith, junior Jack Natili, and sophomore Quinton Coats – who hit second, third, and fourth in the order, respectively – all had two hits apiece. Freshman Enzo Infelise, the designated hitter, logged three hits, and sophomore Derrick Pitts and junior Christian Mitchelle both had two hits apiece as well.

Once again, the Bearcats’ brand of baseball did some heavy lifting. UC had four stolen bases and three bunt hits, with Smith accounting for three of those plays himself. He stole two bases, and eventually scored both times, and added a bunt hit as well. Pitts laid down a bunt single in the ninth inning and redshirt junior Luke Sefcik had a pinch-hit bunt single the previous inning.

Cincinnati will wrap up its season-opening road trip with a four-game series at UAB starting this Thursday.

 

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Jackson Smith scored on a passed ball in the top of the first to give UC an early 1-0 lead.
  • Auburn loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first, but Dillon Schueler recorded back-to-back K’s to end the threat.
  • Christian Mitchelle’s sacrifice fly in the top of the second made it 2-0.
  • Brendan Garula and Dominic Mauro stranded runners in the fourth and fifth before Mauro put up the game’s first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth.
  • Cincinnati plated two in the top of the eighth to go up 4-0. Enzo Infelise ripped a line drive to left field that scored Quinton Coats, and Conlan Daniel’s RBI fielder’s choice increased the lead to four.
  • Luke Sefcik’s pinch-hit bunt single set the tone for the inning, putting runners at the corners for Infelise.
  • The Bearcats really broke it open in the top of the ninth. Coats’ RBI single made it 5-0, then Derrick Pitts laid down a two-out bunt that he hustled out for a single, scoring Jack Natili. Mitchelle’s two-run double off the wall in left field made it 8-0.
  • Pitts’ bunt hit was initially ruled an out, but after video review he was deemed to be safe. The call ended up being huge, as UC was able to take an 8-0 lead into the ninth instead of a 5-0 lead.
  • Joel Pineiro finished off the Tigers in the ninth, completing the shutout.

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