By James Hernandez

A .500 road trip to Phoenix last weekend left the Coyotes searching for offensive continuity and consistency as they returned home to host the 2018 Coyote Baseball Classic.
The opening game of the tournament brought a familiar foe to Morse Stadium, Yavapai College. The Roughriders were looking for a better showing in its second tussle with CSN after dropping its previous meeting 9-1, two weeks ago in the Coyote Border Battle.

Lefty Matty Mitchell took the ball eager to earn his first victory in Coyote blue. Mitchell was effective all game, scattering four hits over five stellar innings of work to secure the victory.

Southern Nevada put up a crooked number in the bottom of the first thanks to RBI's of the bats of Justin Lutes, Joey O'Brien and Hunter Heugly and blew the game wide open in the bottom of the second inning. Eleven Coyotes stepped up to the plate in the second and when the dust finally settled, CSN had dented the plate seven times to take a commanding 10-0 lead. Every Southern Nevada starting position player reached base at least once, with standout freshman backstop Roger Riley pacing the team in hits (4) and RBI's (3) during the blowout victory.

CSN drubbed Yavapai College 13-3 to extend its winning streak over the Roughriders to five games and improving to 5-4 on the year.    

It is often said that "revenge is a dish best served cold" and after a pair of maddening losses last week to the Cougars in Phoenix, it was the Coyotes who were looking to serve up a measure of revenge at home on Saturday.

Ryan McDonald was on the bump for Southern Nevada and was absolutely filthy early on. Ryan breezed through the first three innings, retiring the first nine batters he faced without allowing a hit. A two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the first allowed Beau Capanna to score the game's first run and a Justin Lutes RBI double to left field in the bottom of the second extended CSN's lead to 2-0. SMCC was able to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning when Toi Moyer ripped a 2 RBI double to right field, giving the Cougars its first advantage of the contest. Joey O'Brien quickly knotted the game up 3-3 after ripping a triple off the right field wall that plated Matt Wong. Four scoreless, no-hit innings of relief from Matt Gilbertson and Alex Tisminezky set the stage for the first walk-off win of 2018 for the Coyotes. A couple of two-out singles off the bats of Jordan Macias and Beau Capanna put runners on first and third for Justin Lutes. Lutes hit a hard shot to first base that was misplayed, allowing Macias to score the game winning run.

CSN edged SMCC 4-3 in game two of the Coyote Baseball Classic, improving its season record to 6-4.

Southpaw Nick Rupp looked to become the second freshmen starter this weekend to earn his first victory in a Coyote uniform, but first he would need to shut down a scrappy Cochise College lineup.

After allowing a run in the top of the first inning, Rupp was light's out. Nick struck out seven Apaches, allowing just one run and four hits, over four innings of work. The Coyote offense exploded for a nine spot in the bottom of the second to some patient at bats that saw four of those nine runs score courtesy of a free pass, hit batsmen or passed ball. CSN put the game to bed after plating eight additional runs in the third and fourth innings combined. Nick "Chewy" Hernandez paced the Coyotes with a career-high 5 RBI's and sophomore Peyton Koopman chipped in with 3 runs batted in.

CSN crushed Cochise College 17-3 in game three of the Coyote Baseball Classic, improving to 7-4 in 2018 and extending its season-best winning streak to three games.

After plating 34 runs in its last three games, CSN head coach Nick Garritano entered Sunday's tournament finale hoping that the bats would remain hot against Cochise College and carry the team to its fourth consecutive victory.

A "Johnny Whole-staff" approach was expected from the Coyotes as the coaching staff was looking to get work from six or seven arms. The "Swiss Army Knife" Joey O'Brien tossed two scoreless frames to open up the game, striking out 3 Apaches. A bases clearing 3-run double in the bottom of the second off the bat of Matt Wong gave the Coyotes an early 3-0 advantage. Freshman shortstop AJ Amelburu extended Southern Nevada's lead to 5-0 after a clutch two-RBI single off the third base bag. Tyce O'Neill, JD Brooks, Jordan Wyke, Buddy Pindel and Herbie Good combined to toss the final 6.2 innings for the Coyotes. Cochise College scrapped back to get within two runs at 7-5, but with runners on second and third in the top of the ninth "Tizzy" was called upon to shut the door and preserve the victory. Alex did just that, striking out the only Apache he faced to secure his second save of the weekend.

CSN held on to defeat Cochise College 7-5, improving to 8-4 and running the win streak to four games.

Fans your Coyotes will be back in action at the "Den" February 15-18 in the 2018 Coyote Slug Out. For upcoming opponents and game times log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Twitter @CSN_Baseball and Facebook CSNCoyotes.