Henderson, Nev. — Friday, Jan. 23 | Lied Field at Morse Stadium
The College of Southern Nevada Coyotes opened the 2026 baseball season in strong fashion Friday afternoon, rolling to a 9–0 shutout of Community Christian College in the series opener at Lied Field at Morse Stadium.
CSN set the tone immediately, striking for three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looking back.
Caden Kirby jump-started the offense with a leadoff triple to right-center, then scored moments later when Joey Randazzo drove a double to left for the season's first RBI. After Randazzo moved to third on a fly ball,
Carson Anderson lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate the second run.
Alex Rhynes followed with a walk and stolen base, setting the stage for
Evan Festa, who ripped an RBI triple down the right-field line to make it 3–0.
From there, CSN's pitching staff took over. Starter
Dylan Venturini worked two scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing no hits to earn the win. He was followed by
James Bradford,
Andrew Kaplan, and
Bryce McKnight, who combined to finish off the shutout as the Coyotes limited Community Christian to just two hits while striking out nine.
The Coyotes added to their lead in the fourth.
Michael Albanese reached on an error and stole third before
Gehrig Pineda delivered an RBI single up the middle. A bunt single by Kirby loaded the bases, and
Brandon Swanson followed with a sacrifice fly to right to extend the advantage to 5–0.
CSN put the game away in the sixth with a four-run outburst. Kirby reached on an error and stole second before Randazzo doubled to center to drive him home.
Brandon Swanson followed with an RBI single, and
Alex Rhynes tripled to left to make it 8–0. Moments later,
Jase DeSantis reached on a fielder's choice to score Rhynes, capping the scoring at 9–0.
Kirby finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Randazzo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Swanson added a pair of RBIs, and Rhynes reached base three times and scored twice. The Coyotes totaled eight hits and took advantage of four Community Christian errors to build their early-season momentum.
The victory marked a complete team effort in the season opener, highlighted by crisp defense, timely hitting, and dominant pitching.
CSN and Community Christian will continue their four-game series Friday night at Morse Stadium.
