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By James Hernandez

Two top seven teams in Perfect Games preseason poll took the field Friday night in one of the most anticipated season-opening matchups in junior college baseball.

Central Arizona College sent sophomore ace and future Gonzaga University commit Nick Iverson to the mound and was opposed by former IMG Academy and Bishop Gorman HS standout, freshman Matty Mitchell.

Both aces lived up to the hype, dazzling under the Vegas lights in the premier matchup of the 2018 Coyote Border Battle.

Iverson tossed four innings of no-hit baseball for the Vaqueros, striking out seven Coyotes.

Mitchell was just as sharp, allowing just one run over 5 innings of work and matching Iverson with 7 punch-outs.

With both aces dealing early, the first run of the game did not cross the plate until the top of the fifth inning when CAC's Reagan Teegarden singled home Devin Ray to give the visitors from Coolidge, AZ a 1-0 lead. The Vaqueros added an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning and an RBI triple from clean-up hitter Alix Garcia in the eighth gave Central Arizona a commanding 3-0 lead over Southern Nevada.

The Coyotes only managed three hits in the opener and dropped its opening game 3-0 to the Vaqueros.

What a difference a day makes. After being held to just three hits in its loss to CAC, CSN looked to regroup offensively with 12^th ranked Yavapai College lurking in game two.

Coyote fans packed the "Den" to get their first look at highly regarded WVU transfer Ryan McDonald.

The 6'7 righty came to Southern Nevada as one of the premier arms in junior college baseball, and the future UNLV commit did not disappoint. McDonald fired 5.2 innings of no-hit baseball, surrendering just one earned run and striking out four Roughriders en route to his first victory in a Coyotes uniform. Ryan departed the game with a 4-1 lead, thanks in large part to Joey O'Brien's bases clearing 3 RBI double in the bottom of the third. A four run sixth inning that included RBI's from Joey O'Brien, Peyton Koopman and Roger Riley gave CSN a commanding 8-1 edge.

The "Swiss Army Knife" showed his versatility by closing out the 1.1 innings on the bump with some electric stuff that led to Joey striking out all four batters he faced. Former Silverado High school standout Chase Cortez worked a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning to close a 9-1 run rule victory for the Coyotes. The victory evened CSN's record at 1-1 and extended Southern Nevada's win streak over Yavapai College to four games.

Game three of the 2018 season featured a rematch of the 2017 Western District Tournament Semi-finals versus the Arizona Western College Matadors.

Highly recruited freshman southpaw Nick Rupp was on the bump for the Coyotes and was opposed by the Matadors sophomore ace Irving Martin.

RBI's from the freshman middle-infield combo of Jay DeSoto and AJ Amelburu gave CSN a short-lived 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Unfortunately that lead was erased in a hurry when one of the premier hitters in the NJCAA Sean Roby deposited a tape measure 2-run shot to left centerfield. The Mats held a 1 run lead until Jay DeSoto's 1 out double in the seventh was cashed in by a Trevor Jackson sacrifice fly to left that knotted the game up 3-3. RBI's from the 808's duo of Jordan Macias and Matt Wong in that same inning provided Southern Nevada with its first lead of the game 5-3.

A five run bottom of the eighth inning highlighted by a pair of RBI's from reigning SWAC player of the year Justin Lutes and single RBI's from Jordan Macias and Nick Hernandez extended CSN's lead to 10-3.

Former Green Valley Gator Matt Gilbertson threw 4.1 innings of shutout baseball to earn his first collegiate victory. Sophomore Alex Tisminezky was absolutely filthy, striking out four batters in his two innings of work to lock down the save. CSN improved to 2-1 with a 10-3 victory over the reigning Region 1 champions.

The Coyotes final game of the weekend featured a matchup with Region 5's New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds.

Future University of Houston commit and 2017 wins leader Isaiah Blaylock took the ball looking to pitch CSN to a 3-1 weekend. Blaylock tossed three innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out three Thunderbirds.

Isaiah was in line for a victory thanks to a three-run bottom of the third that featured RBI's from Matt Wong, Joey O'Brien and WKU transfer Wyatt Featherson.

The Coyotes entered the top of the eighth inning clinging to a 3-2 lead, however a three-run rally from the Thunderbirds put Southern Nevada in a 5-3 hole with just six outs remaining.

NMJCC added a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to extend the Coyotes deficit to 7-3.

RBI singles from Nick Hernandez and Beau Capanna cut the deficit to 7-5, but unfortunately Roger Riley flied out to right field to end the game.

NMJCC defeated CSN 7-5 to drop the Coyotes to 2-2 in 2018.

Fans your Coyotes will be in Phoenix, AZ this weekend to battle Gateway CC and South Mountain CC on Friday and Saturday afternoon.

For game times and live stats log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Twitter @CSN_Baseball and Facebook CSNCoyotes.