By James Hernandez 

The Coyotes returned to the "Den" to host Pima Community College and South Mountain Community College in the annual Coyote Baseball Classic following a successful 3-1 road trip to the Grand Canyon State. Southern Nevada evened its season record at 4-4 through eight games, with three of the four losses coming to nationally ranked competition.

Future Pitt Panther Matt Gilbertson earned his third opening weekend start for Southern Nevada of the season, and despite being under the weather all week was effective enough to leave the Aztecs bats feeling ill. The former Green Valley Gator was dealing from the opening frame, firing 5.2 innings of 2-hit baseball that included six punch-outs. Steven Rivas and Nick "Chewy" Hernandez got the offense going in the bottom of the first with back to back two-out RBI singles, propelling Southern Nevada to an early 2-0 advantage.

Former Desert Oasis Diamondback Cole Schaefer dented the left field scoreboard with the first collegiate round tripper of his career, expanding the Coyotes lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the 2^nd. CSN would tack on two more runs in the fourth and sixth innings to establish a commanding 5-1 lead. Sophomore J.D. Brooks emerged out of the Southern Nevada to record the final four outs of the game, securing a solid 5-1 victory for the home team.

CSN surged above .500 (5-4) for the first time all season after winning its third consecutive contest.

Freshman dual-threat Johny Cuevas was on the bump for game two of the double dip versus Pima, looking to be efficient with his pitch count and earn his first victory in a CSN jersey.

Cuevas was downright filthy through five impressive frames of work. The Palm Desert, California product allowed just one run and three hits, fanning seven Aztecs in the process. Once again Rivas and Hernandez went back to back like a "Drizzy" track in the home half of the third to ignite the Coyote offense and stake Cuevas to a 2-0 advantage.

Future UTPB commit "Chewy" continued his assault on Lima pitching in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run double to left that expanded CSN's lead to 4-1. Diaper dandies Cole Schaefer and Jack Pineda followed with RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings to balloon the Coyote lead to 6-1. Sophomore Trevor Jackson relieved Cuevas and tossed four innings of 1-run baseball, striking half a dozen Aztecs along the way to preserving a 6-2 victory for his Coyotes.
Cuevas
and Jackson combined to fan 13 batters in the team's fourth consecutive W, improving CSN's overall mark to 6-4 in 2018.  

A familiar foe awaited Southern Nevada in game three of the Coyote Classic in the form of South Mountain Community College. SMCC had revenge on its mind after dropping a 6-1 battle to these Coyotes one week ago on its home field.

Southpaw and future University of Houston Cougar Nick Rupp got the ball in the game three of the weekend, hoping to continue the teams recent run of quality starting pitching. Rupp surrendered three runs over four innings of work, striking out five in the process and exiting the game with his team trailing 3-2.

Former Bishop Gorman standout Nicholas Israel got the Coyotes on the board with a clutch double down the left field line in the second and Steven Rivas knotted the game up with his team-leading 13^th RBI on an infield single in the third. A.J. Amelburu ignited the "Den" in the bottom of the fourth with a round-tripper that knotted the game up 3-3. The game remained tied until a throwing error by South Mountain's Efrain Cervantes allowed Jay Desoto to score from second base and give Southern Nevada its first lead of the contest 4-3.

Chase Bauerle was summoned from the pen after Nick Thompson tossed two innings of 1-hit baseball, aligning himself for the second victory of his CSN career. Bauerle made clutch pitches when it counted most and sophomore backstop Roger Riley extinguished the Cougars once and for all after firing a seed to second base to cut down Munoz for the final out of the game. CSN held on for a thrilling 4-3 victory that extended the Coyotes winning streak to a season-best five games.

Following a gutsy 4-3 victory in game three of the Coyote Classic, Southern Nevada sent sophomore Buddy Pindel to the mound looking to breakout the brooms at home for the first time in 2019.

Pindel labored a bit through his three frames of work, but was able to navigate a dangerous lineup surrendering just one run. Johny Cuevas got CSN on the board in the bottom of the second with a double down the left field line that plated Nicholas Israel.

Some shaky Cougars defense in the bottom of the sixth allowed a pair of unearned runs to touch home for Southern Nevada, giving them a 3-2 edge. South Mountain responded with a three spot of its own in the top of the seventh to take a 5-3 lead with only nine outs remaining for the CSN offense.

Jack Pineda got the Coyotes one run closer in the seventh after singling home Cuevas to cut the deficit to 5-4. A three up, three down bottom of the eighth set the stage for a bottom of the ninth to remember. Johny Cuevas found his second hit of the game with one away in the ninth, bringing the game-winning run to the plate in former Rancho Ram Joseph Walls.

Walls worked the count full versus the Cougars closer Aldaz, and after spoiling some good pitches barreled up a 3-2 mistake that found its way over the left field wall.

"Morse Magic" was alive and well as the "Den" claimed another victim in Southern Nevada's first walk-off win of the 2019 campaign.

CSN walked-off SMCC 6-5 to extend its winning streak to half a dozen and improve its overall mark to 8-4.

Fans your Coyotes will back home this upcoming weekend when they host the annual Coyote Slugout. For a complete listing of opponents, game times and live updates all weekend log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Facebook CSNCoyotes and Twitter @CSN_Baseball.