By James Hernandez 

A road trip to the Grand Canyon State for the inaugural ACCAC Baum Bat Invitational had Coach Garritano and his coaching staff eager to see how their 2019 Coyotes would respond to some quality competition in the team's first regular season action away from home.

Future Pitt Panther commit Matt Gilbertson got the ball in game one of the tournament versus perennial ACCAC contender South Mountain Community College. The Coyotes were looking for a measure of revenge after dropping a pair of road games last season on this same field to the Cougars, however it would be a tough ask considering that SMCC countered with one of its top arms in future Wichita State commit Foster Gifford.

Gilbertson and Gifford were filthy through their combined 11 innings of work, combining to surrender just one unearned run while scattering ten hits and striking out 11 batters. Unfortunately for Southern Nevada it was "Gilby" who allowed the unearned run, putting the Coyotes on the wrong end of a 1-0 score heading to the top of the seventh inning. Thankfully the offense woke up just in time, plating three in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to erase a single run deficit and establish a five run cushion of its own.

The pride of Albuquerque, New Mexico Jack Pineda paced the Coyotes offense with a pair of RBI's followed by single RBI's off the bats of AJ Amelburu, Steven Rivas and Johny Cuevas. The late offensive surge set Gilbertson up for his first victory of the season and future Abilene Christian commit Trevor Jackson slammed the door on the Cougars after tossing three shutout innings of two-hit baseball to secure the first save of his Southern Nevada career.

CSN dropped SMCC 6-1 to improve its season mark to 2-3.

Nick Rupp will call Houston, Texas home in 2020, but first he hopes to pitch Southern Nevada into the junior college world series for the second time in three seasons. If that is going to be the case, games like the one Friday night versus perennial national contender and bitter rival Central Arizona will become the norm.

Former high school teammate of Jack Pineda at La Cueva high school Jonathan Stroman opposed Rupp in a game that had the feel of late May instead of early February. Southern Nevada jumped on Central Arizona for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, however both sides would exchange body blows early in this prize fight, denting the scoreboard for seven total runs in the first three frames of action.

Nick Rupp departed the contest on the wrong end of a 4-3 score after five solid frames, but the future Houston Cougar was picked by his teammate known best to his teammates as "Deuces." Former Silverado Skyhawk Buddy Pindel came out of the pen to fire four shutout innings of 2-hit baseball, stemming the offensive momentum of the Vaqueros and allowing CSN to tie the game up 4-4 in the process.

Former Pac12 commits Chase Bauerle (University of Utah) and Dakota Donovan entered the game in the ninth for their respective sides and kept this nail-biter tied up after 12 full frames. JD Brooks replaced Bauerle in the 13^th, getting the Coyotes out of trouble in the bottom half of that inning. Donovan had no such issues, fanning eight batters over five no-hit frames of dominant baseball. A clutch rally in the bottom of the 14^th from Central propelled them to a 5-4 walk off victory that added yet another incredible chapter to this storied rivalry. Future UNLV commit AJ Amelburu led the Coyotes with a pair of RBI's, while future D1 commits Matt Wong and Steven Rivas chipped in with 1 RBI each.

The loss dropped the Coyotes to 2-4 in 2019.

Game three of the Baum Bat Invitational presented Southern Nevada with an opportunity to exact a measure of revenge versus a Gateway club that handed them a 7-2 defeat at "The Den" just one week earlier.

The Geckos were unfazed early, plating nine runs in its first four frames of offense to chase Coyote starter Jimmy Gamboa after he allowed three earned runs and eight hits in 2.1 innings on the bump. Southern Nevada's offense missed its wake-up call for the Saturday afternoon game and trailed 12-4 after seven innings of play.

Facing an eight run deficit with only six outs left in the game, the Coyotes picked themselves up off the mat and put together a rally for the ages. CSN sent over a dozen players to the dish in a top of the eighth inning that saw them score a mind-blowing 12 runs (highlighted by a Nick "Chewy" Hernandez grand salami) to claim an improbable 16-12 advantage. A shell-shocked group of Geckos was held in check by freshman reliever Nick Thompson (0 Hits, 3 K's, 1 BB) who fired 2.2 scoreless frames to secure the first victory of his CSN career.

Nick Hernandez led the offensive onslaught with a game-high 5 RBI's followed by Jack Pineda, Steven Rivas and Matt Wong who came through with a pair of runs batted apiece. Overall eight Coyotes produced at least one RBI as Southern Nevada pounded Gateway CC 16-12, improving to 3-4 on the year and gaining some revenge for a 7-2 defeat last weekend.

The final game of the weekend featured two-way freshman Johny Cuevas looking to pitch his Coyotes to a 3-1 weekend versus 5-time defending NJCAA Region IX champions, the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans.

Cuevas was much sharper in his second collegiate start, surrendering just one earned run and striking out three Trojans in his three frames of work.

The offensive outburst from Saturday afternoon appeared to be contagious as the Coyotes tallied 13 runs on 13 hits over seven innings of work with the wood. Former LBSU and future Houston Cougar commit Steven Rivas launched his first round tripper in a Southern Nevada uniform, pacing a balanced attack with a game high 4 runs batted in. Former Rancho Ram standout and top recruit Joey Walls produced three RBI's of his own and fellow diaper dandy Jack Pineda continued to impress with a 3 for 5 day at the dish that included a pair of RBI's. Dax Fellows, Nick Hernandez, Jay DeSoto and AJ Amelburu each contributed with 1 RBI each.

Speaking of fantastic freshmen, Josh Brown, Jamin Kalaola and Garrett Clarke combined to fan five Trojans over four shutout innings of work to secure the 13-2 victory for Southern Nevada. Clarke tallied the first victory of his Coyote career and the team moved back to .500 (4-4) after an impressive 3-1 showing in the inaugural ACCAC Baum Bat Invitational Tournament.

Fans your Coyotes will be back home February 8^th and 9^th to host the annual Coyote Classic. For a complete listing of tournament matchups and game times log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow our social media on Facebook CSNCoyotes and Twitter @CSN_Baseball.