By James Hernandez

Following a canceled weekend of play in Ephraim, Utah due to inclement weather, the Lady Coyotes prepared to host the Colorado Northwestern Community College Spartans at Lady Coyote Softball Field.

Sophomore Breanna Alvarez got the start in the circle to begin the weekend, hoping to provide Coach Johnston some quality innings and get her team to the winner's circle for just the second time in conference play. Alvarez was absolutely brilliant in the start, firing seven innings of one-run softball, scattering five hits and fanning a season-high seven Spartans. If that wasn't enough, Breanna helped herself with the bat too. Alvarez went a perfect four for four with the stick, driving in one run, with two of her four hits going for extra bases.

Alyssa Trujillo left the yard in the bottom of the first inning with a 2-run bomb to help build a 3-0 opening inning cushion for the Lady Coyotes. Leadoff hitter Alexis Vigil and outfielder Avery Rayos found a pair of RBI's apiece in the victory.

CSN dropped CNCC 7-1 to improve to 2-3 in SWAC play and 4-12 overall.

Game two of the weekend featured Karen Hernandez in the circle for Southern Nevada looking to pitch her team to consecutive victories for the first time in 2019.

A spotty defensive effort early in the contest led to Hernandez lasting just one inning, surrendering four runs and three hits. Freshman Kayla Bello relieved Karen and settled in to toss five innings of four-run softball, stemming the offensive momentum of the Spartans and allowing her Lady Coyotes to get back into the game.

CSN held leads of 8-7 and 9-8 after the fifth and sixth innings, but unfortunately we unable to hang on to either advantage. Despite outhitting CNCC 12-9, CSN was unable to pull away and eventually dropped a heartbreaker 10-9.

Breanna Alvarez and Bailey Pepper led Southern Nevada with a pair of RBI's each, followed Alyssa Trujillo, Kayla Bello and Brianna Hernandez with one run batted in apiece. The loss dropped the Lady Coyotes to 2-4 in conference play and 4-13 overall.

Saturday began with a stunned group of Lady Coyotes looking to regroup after handing CNCC its first victory of 2019 less than 20 hours earlier.

Karen Hernandez and sophomore Kristie Thomas shared pitching duties in game three, surrendering a combined 7 runs and 11 hits over a rocky seven innings of work.

For a second consecutive contest Southern Nevada held a lead late, but once again was unable to collect outs when it mattered most. CSN took a 6-4 lead into the top of the fifth, however surrendered four consecutive runs to trail 8-6 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.

A valiant rally fell just short as the Lady Coyotes dropped a nail-biter to the Spartans 8-7.

Alexis Vigil, Bailey Pepper, Kayla Bello and Patricia Galtieri all contributed one RBI apiece in the defeat. The loss dropped CSN to 2-5 in the SWAC and 4-14 overall in 2019.

After a disappointing middle of the series, Southern Nevada looked to regroup in time to earn a series split and avoid the letdown of a home conference series loss to Colorado Northwestern.

A motivated group of Lady Coyotes responded in a huge way, plating a season-high eight runs in the bottom of the first inning. The bats continued to click as CSN plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the second and a five spot in the bottom of the third to take a commanding 15-3 advantage after three frames of play.

Elise Bush blasted her first round-tripper of the season in the bottom of the third inning and was one of four Lady Coyotes (Breanna Alvarez, Kayla Bello and Brianna Hernandez) with a pair of runs batted in. Alexis Vigil, Sabrina Saldate and Bailey Pepper chipped in with one RBI apiece.

Kayla Bello fired four frames of three-run softball to secure her first victory at the College of Southern Nevada. CSN blasted CNCC 15-3 in the series finale, improving to 3-5 in conference play and 5-14 overall.

Fans your Lady Coyotes will be in Price, Utah March 22^nd and 23^rd to battle the USU-E Eagles. For game times and live updates all weekend log onto www.csncoyotes.com or follow us on Facebook CSNCoyotes and Twitter @CSN_Softball.