By James Hernandez

The College of Southern Nevada welcomed Okanagan College and Prairie Baseball Academy into the "Den" to participate in the 2018 Coyote Slug Out. CSN hoped to keep the bats hot after tallying 42 runs in its 4-0 home stand the previous weekend.

Matty Mitchell (1-1) took the ball in the weekend opener, tasked with setting the tone for the Coyote pitching staff as they prepared to play five games in four days.

Mitchell cruised through 5.2 shutout innings of work and departed the game with a 3-0 lead. That lead was thanks in large part to freshman AJ Amelburu, clutching up with a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning. That was the only RBI hit of the game for CSN, however Beau Capanna was able to score runs in the bottom of the third and seventh innings to plate the Coyotes third and fourth runs of the contest.

Jordan Wyke and Alex Tisminezky pitched the final 3.1 innings to preserve the victory. "Tizzy" was dominant in the top of the eighth and ninth, striking out four Yotes and not surrendering a free pass, or hit on the way to securing his third save of 2018.

CSN dropped Okanagan College 4-2 to improve to 9-4 overall and extend the Coyotes win streak to five games.

Friday featured a doubleheader of Coyote baseball and 6'7 righty Ryan McDonald (2-0) was on the bump for game two of the weekend.

McDonald fanned seven OKC batters over six innings of work, and despite a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third inning, McDonald has still only allowed three earned runs in three home starts this season.

True freshman and former Palo Verde Panther JD Brooks took over pitching duties in the top of the seventh and carried the Coyotes to the finish line. Brooks was truly nasty in his three-shutout innings of work, striking out a season-high three batters on his way to the first save of his Coyote career.

Nick "Chewy" Hernandez carried the offense with three RBI's and Roger Riley, Joey O'Brien and AJ Amelburu chipped in with an RBI apiece.

CSN defeated Okanagan College 8-2 to get to 104 overall and extend its winning streak to half a dozen.

One of the highest regarded recruits in the 2017 class, Nick Rupp looked to continue the tradition of excellence his teammates Mitchell and McDonald had set in the previous two games Saturday night while securing his second victory at CSN.

Rupp was on point once again, surrendering just a pair of runs and hits over five stellar innings of work that included seven strikeouts. Rupp departed the game with a 3-2 lead thanks to a career night at the dish from former Bishop Gorman Gael Nick Hernandez.

"Chewy" plated a Southern Nevada career high four RBI's in game three of the weekend, proving over and over that he was one of the toughest outs in the Coyotes lineup. Joey O'Brien, Matt Wong and Hunter Heugly came through with one RBI each as the offense plated double digit runs for the first time of the weekend.

Former Green Valley Gator Matt Gilbertson came out of the pen in the sixth and was absolutely filthy! "Gilby" fired three frames of one-hit baseball, striking out five and securing the first of many saves as a member of the Coyotes.

CSN blasted Okanagan College 10-2 to extend its winning streak to seven games and improve to 11-4 in 2018.

Saturday afternoon's matchup with the Prairie Baseball Academy Dawgs had a chance to be historic as CSN skipper Nick Garritano entered the game just one victory short of 600.

Former Silverado Skyhawk Buddy Pindel (1-0) got the start in game four of the weekend and he would be a part of one of the best pitching performances in College of Southern Nevada baseball history. Pindel was on point from his first pitch, allowing just a single over five sparkling innings that included a career-high nine punch-outs.

The "Swiss Army Knife" Joey O'Brien fired 2.1 dominant innings in relief of Buddy, setting down six of the seven Dawgs he faced courtesy of the strikeout. Palo Verde Panther alumni Tanner Lewis closed the show in style, fanning five batters over his 1.2 innings of work, giving the pitching trio an eye-popping 20 K's and 0 walks over their nine innings of work.

Nick "Chewy" Hernandez paced the offense in RBI's for a third straight game with two and Matt Wong, Joey O'Brien, Hunter Heugly, Beau Capanna and Roger Riley tallied one run batted in each.

CSN defeated PBA 7-1 to secure Coach Nick Garritano's 600^th coaching victory and extend the team's winning streak to eight games.

The final game of the 2018 Coyote Slug Out saw true freshman Dylan Krans getting the first start of his Southern Nevada baseball career. The former West Jordan HS three sport athlete was eager to contribute to a record-setting weekend on the mound. Dylan was dynamic from the beginning, overpowering the Dawgs with his heater on the way to eight strikeouts over five no-hit innings of work.

The Coyotes offense got the early wake-up call in the Sunday morning finale, plating six runs in the offense's first four trips to the plate. Three players, Matt Wong (3 RBI) Peyton Koopman (2 RBI) and Joey O'Brien (2 RBI, 1 HR) struck for seven of the team's eight RBI's Sunday.

With the team leading 7-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning Chase Cortez laced the game-ending RBI single to right field as the Coyotes walked-off the Dawgs for the second straight day. Tyce O'Neill threw two shutout frames to secure the Coyotes ninth straight victory.

CSN shutout PBA 8-0 to improve its record to 13-4 in 2018.

Fans your Coyotes will be in action Wednesday-Saturday as the host the 2018 Coyote Round Robin.

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