CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Christian Mitchelle blasted two home runs and drove in five runs, and Quinton Coats added two homers and four RBIs, powering the Cincinnati Bearcats to a 13-3 victory over the UC San Diego Tritons in the first game of a doubleheader Friday at Marge Schott Stadium.

The Bearcats, winners of four straight, improved to 12-4. The Tritons fell to 4-9.

The most important part of the game was a decisive eight-run outburst by Cincinnati across the second and third innings, which transformed an early deficit into a commanding lead it would not relinquish.

UC San Diego’s Gabe Camacho had given the Tritons a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning with a three-run homer to deep right field, his fifth of the season, scoring Matt Klepsch and Jack Widelski.

Cincinnati answered immediately and forcefully in the bottom half of the frame. After a solo home run by Coats, his 10th of the year, made it 3-1, Cal Sefcik drove in Jack Natili with a double. Mitchelle then gave the Bearcats their first lead of the day, launching a two-run homer to deep right field to score Sefcik and tie the game at 3-3.

The Bearcats broke the game open in the third. Coats led off with his solo shot, and after a Natili double and an RBI single from Tommy Infelise, Mitchelle struck the decisive blow. With two runners on, he hammered a three-run homer to deep left field, his third of the season, capping a five-run inning and extending the Cincinnati lead to 8-3.

Cincinnati added five more runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Coats hit his second homer of the game, an three-run shot in the fourth, and a sacrifice fly by Kameron Smith in the fifth brought home the final run.

Bearcats starter Adam Brouwer earned the win, going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. The Cincinnati bullpen, featuring Brendin Oliver and Brenden Garula, combined for two scoreless innings of relief.

For UC San Diego, Kayden Henson provided a bright spot out of the bullpen with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. The Tritons managed just six hits total, with two coming from Camacho.

Mitchelle’s performance continued a torrid stretch against UC San Diego pitching. In the first three games of the series, the third baseman is 5 for 9 with three home runs and eight RBIs.

The teams were scheduled to conclude the doubleheader later Friday. The four-game series wraps up Sunday.

The result exceeded the projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 7-4 Cincinnati victory. The Bearcats’ ELO probability to win was 64.70 percent.