TicketsCINCINNATI – In an historic display of power, sophomore Quinton Coats and junior Jack Natili both tied the program’s single-game school record with three home runs in Cincinnati’s 20-10 run-rule victory vs. Utah on Saturday.
Coats hit his third home run of the game in the seventh inning to become the 15th player in school history with three in a game. Natili then hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth, his third of the game, to become the 16th Bearcat with three in one game.
When Natili homered the score was 18-10, so his two-run shot made it 20-10 and enacted the 10-run rule to end the game. It was the fifth run-rule victory of the year for Cincinnati. Saturday’s game was the first time UC scored 20 in a game since March 20, 2021 at Xavier.
Natili also tied the single-game total bases record with 14, a mark most recently reached by Kerrington Cross last season.
For Coats, his three-homer performance added to his NCAA-leading total, giving him 18 on the season through just 25 games. He is already tied for fifth all-time in single-season school history, and is just five away from tying Mike Spina’s single-season record of 23 set in 2009.
Natili was 5-for-5 in the game with three homers, five RBI, five runs scored, and a double. Coats was 4-for-5 with the three home runs, six RBI, and four runs scored.
Despite the outcome, it was actually Utah that controlled the game early, leading 7-1 heading into the bottom of the third. Cincinnati then put up a crooked number in each of the next six innings to not only take the lead, but turn a sizable deficit into a run-rule win.
Four other players had multi-hit efforts for Cincinnati. Sophomore Derrick Pitts and senior Christian Mitchelle both had three hits apiece, while sophomores Conlan Daniel and Jackson Smith each had two hits. Smith drove in three runs, while Pitts and Daniel both had two RBI. Smith also walked and was hit by a pitch, putting his on-base percentage this season at .557.
Smith has now been plunked 16 times this year, which is tied for eighth-most in a season in school history and also tied for most among DI players this season.
The Bearcats will play for a sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Utah scored on in the top of the first, then Jack Natili tied it up with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning.
- The Utes plated five in the top of the second to take a 6-1 advantage. Bradley Navarro kicked off the scoring in the second with a solo homer.
- Another Utah run came in to score in the top of the third to increase its lead to 7-1.
- Cincinnati cut the deficit to two with a four-run third inning. Quinton Coats hit a three-run homer, then Christian Mitchelle added a run on a two-out single to right field.
- Coats and Natili hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fourth to give UC its first lead of the day. Coats hit at two-run shot, then Natili blasted the first pitch of the at-bat over the scoreboard.
- Utah tied it up at 8-8 in the top of the fifth, but the Bearcats answered right back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Jackson Smith and Mitchelle advanced a base on a throwing error by the Utah pitcher, then Derrick Pitts drove both of them in with a base hit to center field.
- Natili led off the bottom of the sixth with his second homer of the day, giving UC an 11-8 lead.
- Conlan Daniel made it 12-8 in the sixth, lacing a two-out single to right field to bring home Mitchelle.
- Utah scored two in the top of the seventh, but the two runs proved to be inconsequential following a six-run inning from UC.
- Coats hit his third home run of the game in the seventh, and Jackson Smith’s bases-clearing triple capped the biggest inning of the game for either team.
- Coats then walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth and Natili launched his third homer of the day, ending the game.
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