TicketsCINCINNATI — The No. 17 Cincinnati baseball team capped its 37-win regular season with a slew of All-Big 12 honors, including Freshman of the Year Enzo Infelise, as announced by the league on Tuesday.
The sixth-seeded Bearcats begin Big 12 Tournament play Thursday night against No. 3 Arizona State (11 p.m. ET on ESPNU). Infelise gives the Bearcats back-to-back years with a Big 12 superlative award, following Kerrington Cross' Player of the Year campaign.
First-Team honorees included Infelise (DH), Quinton Coats (1B) and Nathan Taylor (SP). The second team featured Jack Natili (C) and Adam Buczkowski (RP). Infelise was a unanimous selection to the freshman squad, and he was joined there by starting pitcher Connor Blue and outfielder Ryan Tyranski.
The sixth-seeded Bearcats begin Big 12 Tournament play Thursday night against No. 3 Arizona State (11 p.m. ET on ESPNU). Infelise gives the Bearcats back-to-back years with a Big 12 superlative award, following Kerrington Cross' Player of the Year campaign.
First-Team honorees included Infelise (DH), Quinton Coats (1B) and Nathan Taylor (SP). The second team featured Jack Natili (C) and Adam Buczkowski (RP). Infelise was a unanimous selection to the freshman squad, and he was joined there by starting pitcher Connor Blue and outfielder Ryan Tyranski.
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Coats now ranks third nationally in home runs (28) and total bases (180) following a monster series against Texas Tech. He drove in 11 runs as well, pulling within one of the single-season program record. Coats was a Big 12 All-Freshman honoree last season following a second-half surge and answered the bell as a sophomore.
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Taylor secured the UC single-season strikeout record in his final home start of the season, earning an ovation from the crowd. He is now 12 away from tying the career mark in only three years. As a second-teamer last year, he posted 91 strikeouts to 36 walks, and this year has upped it to 111 and 22. That K tally also ranks third in the Big 12 and 10th nationally.
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Infelise leads UC, as well as all Big 12 rookies, with a .374 batting average. That mark is seventh in the league overall. He also has 10 doubles, nine homers and 44 RBI on the season. In games where he relieved Natili behind the plate, he threw out six base-stealers. Infelise also had a team-high 30-game streak of reaching safely and hit .358 in league play.
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Buczkowski leads the Bearcats with 26 appearances, boasting a 4-1 record with six saves. Five of those have been for more than an inning. The high-leverage bullpen ace has also limited opponents to a miniscule .171 batting average.
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Natili, who on Monday was named a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award is second on the team in homers (16), RBI (59), slugging percentage (.648) and total bases (142). He has helped the pitching staff to the third-lowest ERA in the Big 12, in addition to breaking its program strikeout record for the second-straight season, including Taylor's phenomenal season. Natili is also one of three in the nation to have multiple three-homer games.
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Blue has made 10 starts for the Bearcats his rookie year, which ranked third on the team. He threw a career-high six innings while allowing one earned run in a win over Houston.
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Tyranski, after redshirting last year, has carved a spot in both the leadoff and No. 2 spots of the order the second half of the year. He is hitting .324 with six homers, as well as ranking second in walks (37) and stealing 13 bases on as many attempts. His three doubles against Baylor tied the school record.