College of Southern Nevada Coyotes

CSN splits with rival WNC

3/24/2013 8:27:00 PM

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CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Following an 11-inning victory over Western Nevada College last month, the College of Southern Nevada baseball team knew they would be in for a battle with WNC this weekend.

Indeed, the Silver State Showdown lived up to its billing this weekend in the state capitol, as all but one game were decided by a single run. On Friday, following a 4-1 defeat, the fourth-ranked Coyotes were able to mount a comeback in the late innings to defeat the Wildcats, 5-4.

CSN (25-8, 13-3 Scenic West Athletic Conference) avoided being shutout in the opener, as Morgan Stotts singled through the right side with two outs in the top of the seventh inning. Chad Whiteaker then hit a fly ball to left that WNC misplayed, allowing Stotts to score. Wildcats pitcher Cody Hamlin had a perfect game broken up in the fifth inning when Whiteaker doubled down the right field line.

The Coyotes found a way to win the nightcap despite committing four errors. Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, Cory Welch and Whiteaker hit back-to-back singles with two outs to bring up Stotts. Stotts then smoked a ball down the left field line for a double to score Welch and Whiteaker to tie the game, but the inning ended on the same play when Stotts tried to advance to third on the throw.

Stotts made up for the baserunning mishap in a big way in the ninth. With one out, Whiteaker doubled on a fly ball that hugged the right field line and landed just fair in the corner. Stotts then hit his second double of the game to score the go-ahead run.  He finished the game 2-for-5 with three RBIs to lead CSN to victory.

The drama in this game would be far from over, though. Wes Johnson came on to pitch the ninth to close out the game, but issued two walks in the inning to make things interesting. With two outs, WNC pinch runner Donald Glover, Jr. stole second to set up a play at the plate. On the following pitch, Connor Klein singled through the right side, and CSN right fielder Thomas Pannone hosed down Glover several steps before home plate as Cody Clark applied the tag to end the game.

Saturday's games were just as exciting and dramatic, as the Coyotes scored in the final inning again to defeat the Wildcats 4-3 in the first game. In the nightcap, CSN was unable to score in the final inning for the first time in the series, allowing WNC to hold on for the 3-2 win.

In the win, CSN took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on an RBI single by Stotts. WNC scored a run in each of the fourth and fifth innings to reclaim the lead, only to be outdone by the Coyotes' late-inning heroics.

Trailing 3-2 with one out in the seventh, a Welch single and a Whiteaker double put a pair of runners in scoring position. After Stotts was intentionally walked, Bobby Shiroky hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Welch and advance Whiteaker to third. Pannone then came up and drove a base hit up the middle to score Whiteaker and give the Coyotes the lead.  Welch then came in to pitch and retired WNC in order to earn his fifth save of the season.

Both teams scored in the first inning of the final game, with WNC taking an early 2-1 lead. The Coyotes tied the game in the third when Evan Van Hoosier scored on a throwing error, but the Wildcats took the lead back for good in the fifth when Jack Hall scored on a wild pitch. The WNC defense turned three double plays in the game to help kill any rallies CSN tried to muster.

Pannone (2-1) took a tough loss after pitching a complete-game for the Coyotes. He allowed two earned runs, struck out 10 and walked none.

CSN remains in first place in the SWAC at 13-3, one game ahead of Salt Lake Community College (14-6).

The second game was delayed for 15 minutes in the top of the fifth inning when the home plate umpire began to feel the symptoms of a concussion settle in after taking a foul ball to the head just an inning earlier that knocked his protective mask right off of him. He left the game and the third base umpire assumed the duties of calling balls and strikes after briefly leaving to change into home plate umpire gear.