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Henderson, Nev. — Friday, Jan. 23 | Lied Field at Morse Stadium
The College of Southern Nevada Coyotes capped a successful opening day of the 2026 season Friday night with an 8–2 victory over Community Christian College, completing a sweep of the Saints in the second game of the four-game series at Lied Field at Morse Stadium.
CSN again struck early, manufacturing a run in the bottom of the first inning.
Harvey Smerdon reached on an error and advanced to third on another miscue before
Joey Randazzo drove him in with a groundout to shortstop for an unearned run and a 1–0 Coyotes lead.
The advantage grew in the second when
Jake Gorrell launched a solo home run to left field, his first of the season, giving CSN a 2–0 cushion. From there, the Coyotes' pitching staff kept Community Christian off the scoreboard through the first eight innings.
Starter
Andrew Overland earned the win with two scoreless innings, setting the tone before handing the ball to
Mayson Reichartz, Boston Jensen, and
Benjamin Schroeder, who combined to allow just one hit across six shutout frames while piling up strikeouts. The Saints managed only two hits through the first eight innings as CSN pitching consistently worked ahead in counts and limited traffic on the bases.
The Coyotes broke the game open in the sixth inning with a four-run surge. After
Randazzo and
Brandon Swanson reached base,
Alex Rhynes ripped a double down the left-field line to score Randazzo. Gorrell followed with a clutch two-run single to left, plating Rhynes and Swanson. Later in the inning,
Jacob Nelson lifted a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Gorrell and extend the lead to 6–0.
CSN added two more runs in the seventh.
Trey Evans reached as a pinch hitter and moved into scoring position before Swanson drilled a triple to left-center to score him.
Gabriel McCoy then followed with a sacrifice fly to right, allowing Swanson to tag and score, pushing the margin to 8–0.
Community Christian avoided the shutout with two runs in the top of the ninth, but
Kekoa Young closed the door to secure the Coyotes' second win of the day.
Gorrell led the offense, finishing 2-for-3 with three RBIs and the home run. Swanson went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Rhynes added an RBI double. CSN totaled eight runs on four hits, drawing seven walks and taking advantage of Saints miscues throughout the night.
With the win, the Coyotes improved to 2–0 on the young season. CSN will continue the series Saturday with a noon doubleheader against Community Christian at Morse Stadium.
