TicketsCINCINNATI — Cincinnati junior catcher Jack Natili has been named the Big 12's Player of the Week following his four-game performance for the Bearcats this week.
Natili, who hit .357 and also homered against Xavier, became one of three players in the nation this year to go deep three times in multiple games, and he delivered Sunday in a massive rubber match. He hit a solo shot in the sixth to pull UC within 9-6, a two-run homer in the seventh to tie it at 9, then followed Derrick Pitts' game-winning bomb with his third to extend the lead in the ninth. His other trifecta was against Utah on March 21.
Natili is second on the team in homers (13) and RBI (47), both behind national slugging sensation Quinton Coats. His 13 homers are tied for sixth nationally among catchers.
He is the third Bearcat to claim the honor, as Coats earned the same twice over three weeks in March.