HENDERSON, Nev. (April 5, 2019) – Every good team goes through tough moments and the No. 10 College of Southern Nevada baseball team has faced some of those tough moments over the past couple weeks.
Coming off a weekend where the Coyotes went 1-3 against No. 13 Salt Lake Community College, CSN was hoping to reestablish the momentum that saw the program rise to No. 3 in the NJCAA rankings. Instead, Southern Nevada suffered another heartbreaking defeat with a 1-0 loss in game one of a Friday doubleheader against the College of Southern Idaho. The Coyotes followed the loss up with a 6-5 win in game two to earn some momentum back.
The Coyotes and Golden Eagles will play another doubleheader on Saturday. The scheduled start of the day's first game is 1:00 p.m.
Southern Idaho 1, Southern Nevada 0: A walk-off hit by pitch lifted CSI to a victory over a longtime league rival.
Southern Idaho's Nolan Walker was hit by a 1-1 curveball that slipped out of Nick Rupp's hand late in the game with the bases loaded to lift the Golden Eagles to the victory in a pitchers' duel. With CSN ace Nick Rupp on the mound, the game went back-and-forth for the entirety as the Coyotes looked for an opening.
It appeared Southern Nevada had found its opening in both the third and fourth innings as the Coyotes loaded the bases both times, only to go scoreless in both innings. Rupp also worked himself out of a jam in the sixth inning, getting a key strikeout to end the inning.
Southern Nevada had seven hits in the game.
Southern Nevada 6, Southern Idaho 5: Well-timed hitting allowed the Coyotes to power to a doubleheader split in game two.
CSN powered to a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning, an advantage that would prove to be advantageous through the game. Cole Schafer's RBI single in the fourth inning helped CSN to the strong start as Roger Riley started the Southern Nevada scoring in the second inning with an RBI single to center.
Southern Idaho powered back to tie the game at 4-4 midway through the game before the Coyotes scored two runs in the seventh inning with the bases loaded. First, Matt Wong walked to score a run, then Nick Hernandez reached on a fielder's choice to pick up the victory.
Johnny Cuevas led CSN at the plate with a 2-of-5 performance. Garrett Clarke picked up the pitching victory, throwing two innings of scoreless ball, and Chase Bauerle earned the save.
