TicketsBOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of Cincinnati baseball team visited Western Kentucky on Tuesday and came away with a 5-2 victory.
The win improves the Bearcats to 9-4 on the season and is their sixth win in their last seven games.
The game was originally scheduled to be hosted by Cincinnati and played at UC Baseball Stadium, but rainy weather in the Cincinnati area pushed the game to Bowling Green.
The game was tied at 2-2 entering the seventh inning before UC scored one run each in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to take, and then add to, the lead.
Cincinnati’s bullpen shined on Tuesday, as redshirt senior Joel Pineiro earned the win and junior Carson Marsh notched the save. Pineiro threw 2.2 scoreless frames and allowed just two hits and no walks, keeping his season ERA at a pristine 0.00. Making his sixth appearance of the year, Marsh struck out three and worked UC out of trouble in the seventh and eighth to maintain the lead.
Freshman Connor Blue made the start and struck out three in four innings of work. It was his second start of the season.
At the plate, sophomore Quinton Coats went 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. It was his sixth home run of the year, the most on the team. Senior Christian Mitchelle also homered, his first of the season. Coats was one of four players with multi-hit efforts for Cincinnati, as sophomore Jackson Smith, junior Jack Natili, and freshman Enzo Infelise both had two hits. Natili drove in two runs to help the cause and Smith reached base four times, walking twice in addition to recording two hits.
Next up for Cincinnati is a four-game home series vs. UC San Diego. Thursday and Friday’s games are set to begin at 4:00 p.m., Saturday’s game will start at 2:00 p.m., and the finale on Sunday will begin at 1:00 p.m.
Hear from head coach @BischelJordan following today's win at Western Kentucky 🗣️#Bearcats | #TenGames pic.twitter.com/vu8yEj31lg
— Cincinnati Baseball (@GoBearcatsBASE) March 4, 2026
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Connor Blue used a double play to get out of the bottom of the first, then retired the Hilltoppers in order in the second.
- Quinton Coats gave UC the lead in the top of the third. Jackson Smith led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Coats’ single to center field, making it 1-0.
- Western Kentucky answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.
- Coats blasted his sixth home run of the year, a solo shot, in the top of the fifth to tie things up at 2-2.
- Joel Pineiro entered the game in the bottom of the fifth and went on to retire the first seven hitters he faced.
- Jack Natili broke the tie with an RBI single in the top of the seventh, then made it 4-2 in the eighth with a two-out single that drove in Jackson Smith.
- Christian Mitchelle’s ninth-inning home run put the score at 5-2, then Carson Marsh closed out the Tops in the bottom of the ninth to complete the win.
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