It’s February and early in the season, but the University of Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team already has a win over a ranked team under its belt, taking down No. 9 Auburn in Alabama on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 8-0.
UC jumped to a 2-0 lead, then added six runs in the final two frames. Dillon Schueler, Brenden Garula, Dominic Mauro, Carson Marsh and Joel Pineiro combined on the five-hit shutout of the Tigers who had just plated 17 runs on Youngstown State in their last game.
“They’re awfully good, but at the same time, we feel like we’ve got some guys that can compete and we’re pretty well prepared,” UC head coach Jordan Bischel said. “We talked a lot about how our pitching depth was really going to be more high-quality than last year, and that’s the biggest thing that showed up today.”
Bischel’s team is now 3-1 to start the 2026 season, having begun the season taking two of three against Jacksonville State Feb. 13-15.
How Cincinnati beat No. 9 Auburn
Sophomore Jackson Smith doubled, stole third and scored on a passed ball for UC’s opening run to start the game. In the second inning, freshman Enzo Infelise singled, sophomore Derrick Pitts doubled and senior Christian Mitchelle drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right for the 2-0 lead.
Thanks to UC’s pitching, the game stayed there for a while with senior Schueler, redshirt junior Garula (Mason High School) and junior Mauro each throwing two scoreless innings. Junior Marsch (Moeller High School) came in for the seventh inning and kept it scoreless for two frames with Pineiro closing out the ninth.
“We only used two guys out of the bullpen Sunday, so we had quite a few guys that were feeling pretty good and available,” Bischel said. “Obviously, a good lineup like that, it helps to throw some different looks. It worked out pretty well.”
Offensively, in the eighth, sophomore Quenton Coats doubled, moved to third on redshirt junior Luke Sefcik’s single and scored on a single by Infelise for a 3-0 lead, leaving the bases loaded. Sophomore Conlan Daniel (Moeller/Wright State) grounded to third, scoring Sefcik for a 4-0 advantage.
Coats made it a 5-0 game in the ninth, driving in Smith. A Pitts bunt single scored junior Jack Natili, who singled, then Mitchelle had a two-run double to give the Bearcats comfort at 8-0.
Auburn started their season 3-0, sweeping Youngstown State 2-1, 2-1 and 17-2 in the finale.
“I thought we did a nice job of putting pressure on almost every inning,” Bischel said. “We didn’t have many easy innings. When you do that, usually you’re going to break through. It’s no reason to celebrate like we won something major, but we played a really good game and that’s something to be proud of.”
Another impressive start for UC baseball
Last season the Bearcats began by taking two of three against No. 11 Duke on their way to making the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats finished 2025 at 33-26 with a win over No. 2 seed Wake Forest in the Knoxville Regional before falling in back-to-back games to top seed Tennessee and dropping the season finale to the Demon Deacons.
UC continues its Alabama swing with four games at UAB Feb. 19-22. The home opener is Tuesday, Feb. 24 at UC Baseball Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats baseball knocks off No. 9 Auburn on road
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
