HENDERSON, Nev. (April 3, 2019) – The College of Southern Nevada softball team started last weekend off on a high-note before suffering through some difficult moments.
 
The Lady Coyotes opened a four-game series against nationally-ranked Salt Lake Community College by earning a critical 7-5 win, giving life to hopes that CSN would have a successful weekend against the Bruins. Instead, the Scenic West Athletic Conference's top team turned on their offensive burners, taking the remaining three games of the series to drop Southern Nevada to just 6-10 in league play.
 
Entering another four-game series this weekend, CSN is hoping for different results against the College of Southern Idaho. Like Salt Lake, the Golden Eagles are near the top of the list in the SWAC and that has Southern Nevada coach Ashley Johnston anticipating the competitive opportunity.
 
"We are looking forward to playing Southern Idaho," she said. "We know competing means the offense has to come out swinging this weekend so we're looking forward to seeing what we can do to CSI in our second go-around."
 
The Lady Coyotes previously went 1-3 against Southern Idaho in Henderson, earning a close 7-6 victory in the second game of the series. However, CSI outscored CSN 31-13 in the other three games.
 
A preview of the Golden Eagles would start with their strong combination of pitching and defense. CSI is second in the Scenic West in team batting (.385 average) and second in team ERA (4.77 ERA). Southern Idaho also has a league-high 54 home runs. 
 
The various ways Southern Idaho can be successful has caused Johnston to put her team through a variety of different scenarios in practice this week, she said.
 
"This week we are continuing to get reps at practice," she said. "We plan on doing a lot of situational defense and then pitchers will throw live and we'll get offensive reps later in the week."
 
Southern Nevada and Southern Idaho's four-game series will start with a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams will play another doubleheader on Saturday, scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m.