HENDERSON, Nev. (April 3, 2026) — The College of Southern Nevada baseball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped Friday evening as Yavapai College capitalized on key opportunities late to secure a 4–2 victory in game two of the three-game ACCAC series at Morse Stadium.
With the loss, the Coyotes move to 28-7 overall and 13-4 in ACCAC play. The series will conclude Saturday at noon.
Much like the opener earlier in the day, game two unfolded as a tightly contested matchup early, with both teams struggling to generate consistent offense through the first four innings.
CSN threatened in the fourth when Evan Festa doubled to center field, but the Coyotes were unable to bring him home as Yavapai starter Austin Kalsek worked out of the inning. Kalsek proved to be effective throughout the afternoon, limiting CSN to just three hits across eight innings while striking out four.
The Roughriders broke through in the fifth inning.
Parker Halvorson led off with a double, and later came around to score on an RBI single by Carter Brown to give Yavapai a 1–0 lead. The Roughriders added another run in the sixth, capitalizing on a CSN error to extend the advantage to 2–0.
CSN had limited opportunities offensively, as Kalsek consistently worked ahead in counts and kept the Coyotes off balance. Harvey Smerdon collected two hits to lead CSN at the plate, while Festa added a double and Alex Rhynes reached base twice.
Yavapai continued to add insurance in the later innings.
A sacrifice fly in the eighth inning pushed the lead to 3–0, and another unearned run in the ninth extended the margin to 4–0, putting pressure on the Coyotes to respond in their final at-bat.
CSN mounted a late rally in the bottom of the ninth.
Caden Kirby was hit by a pitch to open the inning and advanced into scoring position, and Festa followed with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. After two outs, Rhynes delivered a clutch triple to right-center field, driving in both runners and cutting the deficit to 4–2.
However, the Coyotes were unable to complete the comeback as the next batter was retired to end the game.
On the mound, Christopher Wrench turned in a solid start for CSN, allowing just one earned run over five innings while striking out five. The Coyotes' bullpen combined to limit damage in stretches, but defensive miscues proved costly as two of Yavapai's four runs were unearned.
Yavapai finished with six hits compared to four for CSN, but the Roughriders took advantage of eight walks and multiple extra opportunities to create separation.
Despite the loss, the Coyotes showed late fight and continued to apply pressure offensively, particularly in the final inning.
The two teams will return to Morse Stadium on Saturday at noon for the rubber match of the three-game ACCAC series.
For complete schedules, statistics, and updates, visit www.csncoyotes.com
