By James Hernandez 

Following a bye week the Coyotes set their sights on Rangely, Colorado where they would meet a Spartan team eager earn a victory over Southern Nevada, after dropping four straight in Henderson, Nevada to begin conference play just over a month ago.

Nick Rupp got the nod to start game one, and the freshman had his sights set on putting the team's season-high five game losing streak in the rearview mirror. Rupp was sharp all game, scattering six hits, allowing just one run and striking out four Spartans over his five innings of work to improve to 6-0. Matt Gilbertson and JD Brooks threw one shutout inning of relief each to help secure the win. Southern Nevada received a shot in the arm when reigning first team All-SWAC 3B Jordan Macias found his way back into the starting lineup. "Jordo"  worked a pair of walks and a hit, scoring a game-high three runs. 'The Swiss Army Knife" Joey O'Brien continued to add to his tem leading RBI total with a pair in the opener, followed by one run batted in apiece off the bats of Justin Lutes, Hunter Heugly and Wyatt Featherston. CSN made its five game losing streak a thing of the past after dropping CNCC 7-2 to open up the weekend series. The victory put the Coyotes conference record at 10-7 and improved its overall mark to 28-11.
  
Buddy Pindel took the ball in game two looking to pitch his Coyotes to a sixth consecutive victory over the Spartans. Buddy scattered four runs (only 1 earned) over five frames of work, but still departed the game with a 5-4 lead. Jordon Wyke relieved Pindel, but was unable to hold the lead after surrendering an earned and unearned run over his 1.1 innings of work. Freshman Jay DeSoto led the offensive charge for the Coyotes offense with a pair of runs batted in during the game and was aided with RBI's off the bats of Jordan Macias, Hunter Heugly and Wyatt Featherston. The game was a nip/tuck, back and forth affair as the game headed to the bottom of the ninth inning knotted up 6-6. After issuing a pair of walks, Joey O'Brien surrendered a game-winning double to CNCC's Kevin Brandt. Colorado Northwestern walked off Southern Nevada 7-6, dropping them to 10-8 in the SWAC and 28-12 overall.

After surrendering the game-winning hit less than 16 hours ago, Joey O'Brien was back on the bump to start game three. Joey found the going tough once again, and despite striking out six Spartans over four frames departed the game trailing 4-0. Luckily O'Brien remained in the game offensively and was able to knot the game up 4-4 after singling home a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Dane Perry reclaimed the lead for CNCC in the bottom of the fifth inning after his double plated Tyler Keith and gave his team a 5-4 edge. The Spartans held the lead until the top of the seventh inning when Peyton Koopman clutched up to single home a pair of runs and give the Coyotes its first lead of the game 6-5. Matt Gilbertson slammed the door on the Spartans in the seventh to secure his fourth victory of the season. CSN outlasted CNCC 6-5, improving to 11-8 in conference play and 29-12 overall.

Southern Nevada entered the final game of the weekend beaming with confidence after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in a thrilling come-from-behind 6-5 win in game three. Southpaw Matty Mitchell toed the rubber in search of victory number five of the season. Mitchell dominated the Spartans for the second time this season, surrendering just three hits and a pair of runs over five solid frames of work. A five run third inning highlighted by two runs batted in off the bat of reigning SWAC player of the year Justin Lutes helped CSN establish a 5-0 lead. Joey O'Brien paced the offense with a game-high three RBI's including a round tripper in the fourth and a sacrifice fly that inflated the Coyotes lead to 8-2. A second RBI off the bat of Michael Camburn in the seventh inning combined with Jordan Macias' second run batted in of the weekend secured the run rule victory for the Coyotes. CSN dropped CNCC 10-2 in the weekend finale to take the series 3 games to 1 and improve to 8-1 in 2018 versus the Spartans.

Fans your Coyotes will be back home April 20^th and 21^st to host the USU-Eastern Eagles. For game times, ticketing options and updates all weekend log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Twitter @CSN_Baseball and Facebook CSNCoyotes.