By James Hernandez 

The Lady Coyotes hit the road for the first time in 2019 to participate in the annual Great Western Shootout in Yuma, Arizona. Southern Nevada would get a second look at four of its six upcoming opponents after hosting the CSN Kickoff Classic just one week earlier.

CSN opened up with a rematch of a very competitive 10-8 defeat last weekend at the hands of Central Arizona College. The Vaqueras bats were ready to do damage from the opening pitch, using a nine run opening frame to sprint out to a commanding advantage. A long ball of the bat of Bailey Pepper (3 RBI) in the bottom of the third along with RBI's from Breanna Alvarez and Avery Rayos cut Central's lead to 9-5, however it was the only offense the Lady Coyotes would generate all game. CAC added a four spot in the top of the fifth inning to secure a 13-5 run rule victory over CSN. The loss dropped Southern Nevada to 1-5 in 2019.

The Glendale Community College Gauchos were next up for the College of Southern Nevada as they concluded day one of the 2019 Great Western Shootout. Southern Nevada jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of some shaky defense from the Gauchos. Glendale CC was able to right the ship defensively and saw its bats awaken as they plated ten runs over the next four innings to claim a 10-3 edge. Alexis Vigil singled home the Lady Coyotes fourth run of the game in the bottom of the seventh, but unfortunately the rally fell short. GCC defeated CSN 10-4, dropping the Lady Coyotes to 1-6 on the season.

Karen Hernandez was in the circle for the Lady Coyotes looking to provide some quality innings and give her team a chance to snap its 6 game losing streak. The freshman from Sonora, Mexico responded with a rock solid performance. Hernandez surrendered five hits over five plus innings, allowing five runs and striking out seven Gila Monsters in the process. The bats were awake early for the Lady Coyotes, plating five runs in the first three frames of action to establish a 5-1 advantage. Breanna Alvarez paced CSN with a game-high 2 RBI's, while Alexis Vigil, Sabrina Saldate, Avery Rayos and Alyssa Trujillo chipped in with 1 RBI apiece. Southern Nevada took an 8-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth and Breanna Alvarez pulled double duty to secure her first save of 2019. CSN defeated EAC for the second time in two weeks, this time 8-6 to improve to 2-6 on the year and snap its six game losing skid.  

Fresh off an excellent effort both in the circle and with the bat, Breanna Alvarez got the starting nod from Coach Johnston versus nationally ranked Yavapai College. CSN and YC combined to plate 25 runs last weekend from Henderson, Nevada in an offensive explosion from both teams. The rematch was much more subdued, with the Roughriders doing the heavy-lifting. Both Alvarez and her counterpart from Prescott were sharp early on, surrendering a combined three runs over the first 4 plus innings of work. Unfortunately for Alvarez, Yavapai was able to strike for a five spot in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend its lead over Southern Nevada to 7-1. Breanna Alvarez (1 RBI) and Avery Rayos tallied one hit apiece, and they were all that stood between the Roughriders and a no-hitter. YC dropped CSN to 2-7 overall after claiming the 7-1 victory Friday afternoon.

For the first time in ten games the Lady Coyotes matched up with a team from somewhere other than the Grand Canyon State as the prepared to battle the El Paso Community College Tejanas on the final day of the Great Western Shootout. Sophomore Kristie Thomas took the ball for the Lady Coyotes hoping to pitch well enough to earn her second victory of the season. Thomas did just that as both sides battled to a 1-1 stalemate entering the top of the fifth inning. Unfortunately a multi-error top of the fifth inning by CSN's defense allowed for five unearned runs to touch home and put Southern Nevada in a 6-1 hole. The offense regrouped quickly, striking for a four run bottom of the fifth inning courtesy of multi-RBI days from Breanna Alvarez and Sabrina Saldate. Brianna Hernandez added her first run batted in of the weekend, however it was not enough to overcome the Tejanas. EPCC held on to defeat CSN 6-5 in the Lady Coyotes fifth game of the weekend. The loss dropped Southern Nevada to 2-8 in 2019.

The final game of the Great Western Shootout pitted the Lady Coyotes versus the host of the tournament, the Arizona Western College Matadors. Karen Hernandez got her second start of the weekend versus the Lady Mats, and continued her solid effort inside the circle for Coach Johnston. Hernandez was able to navigate her way through six innings, allowing just four earned runs and striking out five Arizona Western hitters. Southern Nevada plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, establishing an early 2-0 advantage. The big inning came back to bite CSN as it had much of the weekend when AWC plated a four spot to double up CSN 4-2 after three innings of play. A scrappy Southern Nevada group scrapped out a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to knot the game up 4-4. Baily Pepper led the charge with a pair of RBI's, followed by Sabrina Saldate and Avery Rayos with one run batted in apiece. A clutch bottom of the seventh saw the Lady Mats walk-off the Lady Coyotes 5-4, dropping CSN to 1-5 in the Great Western Shootout and 2-9 overall in 2019.

Fans your Lady Coyotes will be on a bye this upcoming weekend, however be sure to stay up to date with all the latest happenings by logging onto www.csncoyotes.com or following us on Facebook CSNCoyotes and Twitter @CSN_Softball.