CSN’s baseball season ends in district tourney

The College of Southern Nevada's baseball team rode an 18-game win streak into the NJCAA Western District Tournament in Coolidge, Ariz. With two losses Thursday, the Coyotes were riding back home to their Henderson campus.

CSN was ousted from the three-team, double-elimination tourney -- which sends its winner to the Junior College World Series -- following a 5-1 loss to Central Arizona College and a 7-5 loss to Trinidad State (Colo.) Junior College.

The Coyotes ended their season 44-16.

"It didn't help that we faced the best pitcher in America in that first game," CSN coach Tim Chambers said of Central Arizona right-hander Josh Spence, who struck out 13. "In the second game, our guys on the mound didn't get it done. Our offense shut down on us.

"All around, it was just a bad day for us."

Spence (14-2) scattered eight hits while walking one for the Vaqueros in the day's first game. The only run he surrendered was unearned.

Coyotes starter Tyler Lavigne (8-3) was touched for a run in the first inning and two in the second in taking the loss.

Against Trinidad State in the day's second game, the Coyotes took a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Brandon Trodick had a run-scoring single, and Easton Gust added an RBI-double to highlight CSN's first inning.

The Coyotes' final run in the eighth came on Tyson Mehlhoff's infield out.

Reliever Chasen Bradford (3-1) took the loss for CSN after the Trojans chipped away with single runs in the second and fourth innings and a pair of runs in the third and sixth.

Devin Shepherd collected three of CSN's 17 hits over the two games, while Robbie Garvey had two.

"Sure, I'm disappointed with how things ended today," Chambers said. "But I've had more fun with this team than any I've ever coached. ... They just never wavered in their commitment to winning."