TicketsCINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati baseball team is en route to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State in a three-game series. Friday and Saturday begin at 7 p.m. ET, with the Sunday finale at 2 p.m.
Quinton Coats and Enzo Infelise were named First-Team All-America and First-Team Freshman All-America, respectively, by Perfect Game on Wednesday, with Coats also earning Baseball America Midseason Player of the Year Watch List honors.
Coats leads the nation with 20 homers, hitting 15 with a .403 average in March alone. Infelise, signed as a catcher but playing extensively as the DH with Jack Natili anchoring the backstop, hit .400 over the month to now lead the team at .372 (he and Coats are also .400 in Big 12 play). Infelise had a career-high four hits on Tuesday against Wright State, now hitting safely in eight of nine games.
Cincinnati ace Nate Taylor went three scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against OSU last year, halted only by a rain delay that prematurely ended his potential gem. The Cincinnati bullpen got to see freshman Alex Gonzalez make his debut Tuesday with a scoreless sixth, en route to his first win.
Freshman Chad Brown also notched a three-inning save on Tuesday, lowering his ERA to 2.95. He also had 3.0 scoreless frames in his debut at Jacksonville State and 4.1 combined against UCSD.
Ryan Tyranski's three stolen bases, matching UC's season-high, were part of five swipes on Tuesday. The Bearcats are first in the Big 12 and fourth among the Power 4 conferences with 72.
The Sefcik brothers shared the starting lineup for the second time this season on Tuesday, and Luke jumped at the opportunity. He homered to the opposite field in the second, then doubled in the eventual winning run in the seventh. Jackson Smith and Coats, in the No. 2 spot for the first time of the year, followed with back-to-back homers to extend the lead. Coats is seventh nationally for slugging (.899) and is perfect on seven steal attempts.
Five full-time starters are hitting .327 or better, with Cal Sefcik (14 starts) at .367. UC is fifth in the league with a .310 clip.
ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowboys bounced back from a road sweep at now-first place UCF to win consecutive series against Baylor (home) and BYU (road). Head coach Josh Holliday, part of a family synonymous with Cowboy baseball, is in his 14th season at the helm.
UC avenged a road sweep in 2024 to the No. 21 Cowboys by claiming the series at home in 2025. Its bid for a sweep was halted in an 8-1 defeat in the finale, with eventual fourth-round pick Sean Youngerman holding it down for seven innings.