STARKVILLE, Miss. (Interstat) — Jack Natili homered three times and drove in five runs to power seed Cincinnati past Louisiana-Lafayette 12-2 on Friday, May 29, 2026, in an NCAA tournament game at Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium.

Natili, who entered the playoff after an 0-for-1 outing against Arizona State on May 21, finished 4-for-5 with a double and three home runs. His first blast, a solo shot down the left-field line in the second inning, cut Louisiana-Lafayette’s early lead to 2-1. The Ragin’ Cajuns had scored twice in the top of the first on a single by Amedee that was compounded by a fielding error and a run-scoring error. Cincinnati starter Nathan Taylor settled after that, allowing two hits and no earned runs over six innings while striking out three.

The pivotal sequence came in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the score still 2-1 after three quiet frames, Natili doubled to left field. Enzo Infelise followed with a two-run homer to center field, giving Cincinnati a 3-2 lead. Christian Mitchelle then tripled to right-center to bring home another run, and Charlie Niehaus capped the outburst with a two-run homer to left-center, making it 6-2. The Bearcats sent nine men to the plate in the inning, and Taylor’s efficient work kept the Cajuns off the board.

Cincinnati broke the game open in the fifth. Ryan Tyranski led off with a solo home run to right field. After a walk to Coats, Natili struck again with a two-run homer to left, stretching the lead to 9-2. The Bearcats added another run in the sixth on an RBI single by Coats that scored Smith, who had doubled. Natili completed his historic night with his third homer of the game in the eighth, a two-run shot to left that brought the final margin to 12-2.

For Louisiana-Lafayette, starter JR Tollett took the loss despite striking out five in 3⅓ innings. He allowed three earned runs on zero hits, hurt by walks and defensive miscues. The Ragin’ Cajuns managed only five hits overall, with singles from Amedee, Brown, LaSalle, Mandino and Lim. Louisiana-Lafayette fell to 38-24 on the season, while Cincinnati improved to 38-20.

Cincinnati’s offensive production was spread across the lineup. Infelise went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Niehaus was 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. Mitchelle finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Tyranski added a homer. Taylor’s strong start was backed by four relievers – Joel Pinerio, Adam Brouwer and Dominic Mauro combined for three innings of relief, with Mauro allowing one earned run in his inning. Pinerio and Brouwer each pitched a scoreless frame.

The game was played at a neutral site in Starkville, Mississippi, as part of the NCAA tournament bracket. Louisiana-Lafayette came in having won seven of its previous 10 games, including a 7-4 win at Texas State on May 23. Cincinnati had split its last two games, losing 10-2 at Arizona State on May 21 after taking two of three from Texas Tech at home earlier in May.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cincinnati 7, Louisiana-Lafayette 6. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Cincinnati with a 51.40 percent probability to win.