The University of Cincinnati baseball team run-ruled UC San Diego in both games of Friday’s doubleheader, winning game one by a score of 16-1 before taking game two, 13-3.

The Bearcats improved to 12-4 following the wins and have now won five games in a row and nine of their last 10.

Friday was an absolute dismantling of the Tritons, as Cincinnati hit .459, slugged .902, and nearly have of its hits went for extra bases (13-of-28).

Nobody had a louder day at the plate than sophomore Quinton Coats. The slugging first baseman homered in the first game and hit two more in the second game. Coats now has six home runs over his last four games and has 11 this season. After his barrage of homers, he ended play on Friday tied with UCLA’s Will Gasparino for the Division I lead.

Senior Christian Mitchelle also homered twice in game two, and sophomore Jackson Smith and junior Jack Natili both hit home runs in game one. Smith’s home run was a grand slam, the second of the season by a UC hitter after Coats hit one at UAB.

Junior Cal Sefcik was 3-for-3 a couple doubles in game two, a welcome sight considering his recent return from injury.  

Cincinnati wasn’t just flexing its muscles either, earning more total free bases (10 walks, two HBP) than strikeouts (11) at the plate.

The run-rule wins would not have been possible without UC’s pitching either. In 14 innings of work, the pitching staff tallied 18 strikeouts while walking just six and held UC San Diego’s hitters to a .189 combined batting average (10-for-53). Senior Logan Knight started game one and punched out eight hitters in five frames, and the bullpen combined to throw four scoreless innings.

The series will conclude on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. There will be no game played on Saturday.