Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

After falling to Taft College the day before, the Cerro Coso Coyotes baseball team returned home to an empty and quiet stadium looking to rebound from the loss and continue to remain unbeaten at home. After struggling to score on the road, the Coyotes bats came to life to help the bullpen in earning a 15-7 win over the Cougars. The win sees the Coyotes go 4-0 at home but are 0-3 on the road and Head Coach Justus Scott spoke on the bounce back win and being unbeaten at home.

"It was a great bounce back win," he said. "We made mistakes today certainly but we were in control most of it. Best thing about it is we answered every time they scored and that's what allowed us to stay in control. Its early the last three ball games we played Southwestern and these guys swung it really good yesterday, Taft did, but we didn't pitch well and we know it.

"It's a good thing and you always want to play well at home and most teams do. So, it's kind of standard but it's a good thing. What we have to do is we have to play well on the road. We always have to because of mainly where we are located. The trips are long so it's really important that we battle better on the road to get some road wins."

In the loss to the Cougars on the road, the Coyotes offense struggled to score runs until late in the game. But at home they scored in the first inning and only had three innings where they failed to score a run. But had three innings where they scored four or more runs including a grand slam in the bottom of the third by first baseman Seth Moore. The Coyotes took advantage of any mistake made by the visitors such as scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth, and were able to win at the plate which led to the big five run inning in the eight to secure the win.

Moore had five at-bats with three runs and five RBIs on four hits including the grand slam in the third inning. Designated Hitter Ariel Rodriguez had four hits on five at-bats for a run with three RBIs. Shortstop Justin Austin had three runs and two RBIs on two hits in three at-bats. Second baseman Gavin Fraser had three runs with two RBIs on three hits with five at-bats. As a team Cerro Coso had 38 at-bats for 15 runs on 18 hits with 13 RBIs.

With the bats going, the Coyotes bullpen had plenty of run support to work with and they took advantage. The bullpen held the Cougars scoreless in four innings including the ninth inning to secure the win and avoid any chance of a comeback. Scott said on his bullpen that they have some good stuff and arms there, and with it being early in the season they have more work and more innings to pitch. They have a real quality bullpen that can be put in more situations and be able to delivery as the season goes on.

Jacob Rice started the game and threw 3.1 innings giving up four hits for two runs, non-earned, and had two strikeouts. Cennedy Murrell threw 0.2 innings allowing four hits for two earned runs with a strikeout. Ian Rasmussen went two innings giving up a hit with two walks and a strikeout. Kanon Welbourne went an inning with three hits for three earned runs and three walks. Johnathan Neal closed the game throwing two innings giving up a hit with two walks and three strikeouts.

Another factor in the win was the Coyotes defense. The Coyotes played strong defense in keeping the Cougars from having a big inning as they never scored more then two runs in any inning. The Coyotes made the right plays and had a couple of double plays, and Scott was pleased to see that.

"That's the thing big innings happen when you walk or hit a guy coupled with an error defensively," the Coyotes coach said. "You can't have both of them and when you have both of them, you leave the chance for the other team to have a big inning."

The Coyotes continue the season with a road game at Porterville tomorrow at 2 p.m. They return home on Thursday to host Santa Barbara with the first pitch at 1 p.m., and then go on four-game road trip beginning at Cypress on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Home games have a no spectator rule in effect due to construction being done as well as there are currently no bleachers in place for fans to safely watch the game.