Three late-inning errors snapped a tie and sent College of Southern Nevada to a 5-2 series-opening baseball victory over Western Nevada College on Thursday at John L. Harvey Field.
The win pulled the Coyotes (8-5) within one game of the first-place Wildcats (9-4) in the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings.
CSN ace Phil Bickford, the 10th pick in the 2013 Major League Baseball amateur draft, is scheduled to pitch the opening game of today’s doubleheader set for noon.
WNC head coach D.J. Whittemore doesn’t think there’s going to be any additional pressure on his club after losing the series opener and having to face one of the nation’s top amateur pitchers.
“I feel like there is pressure every day, and I think we thrive on that. We’re always the underdog and we’re just here to compete,” Whittemore said.
After tying the score in the seventh inning, the Wildcats’ defense struggled in the eighth.
The Coyotes took advantage of three errors to the first four hitters to score two runs to take a 4-2 lead.
Corey Pool’s lunging grab of catcher Tim Lichty’s wild throw to first base and his diving stop of Alec Taft’s smash headed for the right-field corner prevented the Coyotes from adding to their lead.
CSN added an insurance run on Kenny Meimerstorf’s RBI base hit to left field in the ninth.
WNC broke up the scoreless duel between the Wildcats’ Matt Young and Anthony Martine with one out in the sixth.
After Kody Reynolds reached on an error, Lichty sent his teammate to second with a sacrifice bunt to the right side of the infield.
Putting Reynolds in scoring position paid off immediately as D.J. Peters stroked a base hit down the right-field line to score Reynolds.
The Coyotes threatened to at least tie the score in the seventh, putting runners on the corners with one out. Taft decided to hold on third base on Cain Brady’s bunt along the first-base line and Young was able to throw to first for the second out.
However, Young balked to bring home Taft with the tying run. That was Young’s final hitter as Connor Zwetsch came in out of the bullpen.
Tyler Brown greeted Zwetsch with a base hit to right field, scoring Reece Lucero with the go-ahead run.
WNC retaliated with the tying run in its half of the seventh, capitalizing on a leadoff single by pinch-hitter David Modler off reliever Alec Hutt.
A sacrifice bunt by Riley Ingram moved Modler to second and Pool fought off several two-strike breaking pitches before lining a double into the left-center-field gap to score Modler and forge a 2-2 tie.
The Wildcats reached Martine for four hits through the first three innings but were kept off the scoreboard.
Martine struck out Peters with Pool on third base and Reynolds on second in the first.
Like his previous outing, Young struggled in the first and then found his control.
Young walked two Coyotes in the first, but an around-the-horn double play and a strikeout left CSN scoreless.
Following an infield error in the second, Young retired 10 Coyotes in a row before issuing a two-out walk to Lucero in the fifth inning.
Later in the inning, Young walked Mason Hayes, but third baseman Ingram tagged out Lucero on a ground ball to end the scoring opportunity.
Gerald Robbins beat out a slow roller to short with one out in the sixth to break up Young’s no-hit bid.
In his previous start against Mount Hood Community College, Young lost his no-hitter with two outs in the seventh.
Young came into the game tied for second in the nation with seven victories.
Reynolds and Pool each delivered two hits in the losing effort for the Wildcats.
In the latest National Junior College Athletic Association poll, both WNC and CSN were ranked just outside the top 20.
The Coyotes at No. 24 and the Wildcats were at No. 25.