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The Lady Coyotes traveled to Rangely, Colorado this past weekend in hopes of winning their first conference road series since a sweep at Snow College nearly a month ago.

by James Hernandez 

CSN ace Megan Mello took the mound in game one of the series looking to add to her team leading 91 strikeouts and earn her thirteenth victory of the season. Megan's teammates got the scoring started early, as they put a three spot up in the top of the first inning. Maggie Manwarren, Sarina Creswell and Megan Mello, each had an RBI for the Lady Coyotes and that would be all the run support Mello would need. Clean up hitter Vanessa Sanders would add a two-RBI double in the fourth and Megan Mello brought across the games eighth run with her second RBI of the game. Mello cruised to her eleventh victory of the season allowing just one hit over five innings, striking out six and not allowing a single run. CSN run ruled CNCC 8-0 in game one of the weekend series.

The Lady Coyotes hoped to keep their bats hot in game two of the series and give starting pitcher Kristina Nelson a chance to win her ninth game of the year. The game was scoreless until the top of the third inning when Maggie Manwarren singled home the Dacia Sykes to score the games first run, right fielder Vanessa Sanders followed two batters later, with a three-run bomb putting the Lady Coyotes ahead 4-0. Nelson ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth inning when Lady Spartans center fielder Katie Mankau hit a clutch two out, two RBI single to cut the CNCC deficit to 5-2. Lady Coyotes designated hitter Dacia Sykes would get those runs back in the top of the fifth inning with a two-RBI single that scored Nelson and Tapuala, extending their lead to 8-2. Nelson would pitch a complete game to earn her ninth victory of the season, allowing just two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking just one. CSN defeated CNCC 8-2 in game two of the four game series.

Game three of the series saw the Lady Coyotes looking win their sixth straight ball game and secure the series victory. Megan Mello took the ball in game three looking for twelfth victory of the season, but found herself down 1-0 early after CNCC center fielder Katie Mankau hit a run scoring triple in the bottom of the first inning. Dacia Sykes started her own personal two-out rally in the top of the third inning after working a walk she proceeded to steal second base, third base, and finally scoring the tying run for CSN on a Vanessa Sanders RBI single. The game remained tied until the top of the seventh inning, when the CSN erupted like Mount Saint Helens. The Lady Coyotes began the inning with seven consecutive hits, before the Spartans registered an out in the inning CSN had scored six runs, highlighted by a Vanessa Sanders two-RBI moon shot. Eight of the nine batters in the inning had at least one hit and when the dust settled the Lady Coyotes had scored eight runs on nine hits and now led the Spartans 9-1. Megan Mello did not surrender another run in the game as she earned her second complete game victory of the series and twelfth win overall. CSN defeated CNCC 9-1 in game three of the four game series.

Game four was all about style points for the Lady Coyotes as they hoped to run their winning streak to seven games and pull within four games of first place SLCC and CSI in the SWAC. Vanessa Sanders solidified her SWAC player of the week status early, launching her third home run of the series in the top of the first inning. Sanders put up video game numbers all weekend long, finishing the series with nine hits, eleven RBI's, three homeruns and seven runs scored. Dacia Sykes and Tiana Tapuala flexed some muscle, adding home runs in the second and third inning respectively, extending CSN's lead to 5-0. The final nail in the coffin for the Lady Spartans came in the top of the fifth inning when the Lady Coyotes rallied for another four runs and pushed the lead to 9-0. Kristina Nelson pitched five shutout innings, striking out six on the way to her second victory of the weekend and tenth of the season. CSN run ruled CNCC for the second time this series, defeating the Spartans 9-0 in game four and sweeping the weekend series in Rangely Colorado. Next up the Lady Coyotes will host the Snow College Badgers this weekend beginning with a doubleheader Friday afternoon at 1 and 3 and concluding Saturday afternoon with games at 12 and 2. 


For the latest news, the complete 2015 Coyote softball schedule, and more of my articles covering each weekend series, please visit www.csncoyotes.com.  Follow us on Twitter @CSNCoyotes, for live scoring updates and in game tweets.