UC Bearcats advance to Starkville Regional semifinals after rout of Louisiana
The University of Cincinnati baseball team secured a 12-2 victory in the opening game of the NCAA Starkville Regional, setting up a Saturday night clash with top-seeded Mississippi State.
The University of Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team opened its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a decisive 12-2 victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the opening game of the Starkville Regional on May 29. The win advances the No. 2 seeded Bearcats to a Saturday night matchup against the top-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Junior catcher Jack Natili was the offensive catalyst for Cincinnati, hitting three home runs and a double. This marked his third multi-homer game of the 2026 season. The Bearcats collectively hit six home runs in the contest, with additional round-trippers from freshman Enzo Infelise, redshirt sophomore Charlie Niehaus, and redshirt freshman Ryan Tyranski.
Louisiana starter Cody Brasch took the loss after allowing eight hits and seven runs. He was particularly vulnerable in the fourth inning, where UC scored five runs on six straight hits with two outs. Natili’s second home run of the night came in the fifth, extending the lead to 9-1 before Ryan Tyranski and Natili added further runs in the same frame.
On the mound, UC starting pitcher Nathan Taylor allowed two hits and one run over six innings, striking out three batters. Although Taylor walked four batters, he escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning when sophomore Derrick Pitts turned a rare 8-4 double play by throwing out runner Drew Markle at second base. Relief pitchers Dominic Mauro, Adam Brouwer, and Joel Pineiro finished the final three innings to secure the win.
The victory marks UC’s second consecutive year winning the opening game of an NCAA regional. The team last competed in Starkville in 2015, when they were swept by Mississippi State in a three-game series. That 2015 lineup included future Major League Baseball players Ryan Noda and Ian Happ. Mississippi State improved to a 41-17 record after defeating Lipscomb 10-1 on Friday.
The Bearcats are scheduled to face the Bulldogs at 9 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday on ESPN+. A win would advance UC to a Sunday game at 8 p.m., while a loss would drop them into a 3 p.m. elimination game in the double-elimination tournament.
