TURLOCK -- Cal State San Bernardino battled 19th-ranked Dixie State for nine innings before falling 4-3 Thursday, then suffered a mercy rule loss to the Red Storm, 9-1, in the second game of their non-conference softball series at Pedretti Park.
    The twin wins improved Dixie State College of Utah to 31-7 on the season. The Red Storm are ranked No. 3 in the West Region. CSUSB, hoping to make a run at getting back at the .500 mark for the season against some top teams, dropped to 14-24 on the season.
     The Coyotes open play Friday in the Mizuno Tournament of Champions, facing West Region No. 6 Grand Canyon, West Region No. 2 Hawaii Pacific, currently No. 11 in the nation, and Chaminade.
     In game one, the two teams were tied 2-2 before the Coyotes went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth as junior first baseman Ashley Collinwood singled with two out and scored on a double by sophomore centerfielder Priscilla Curiel.
     Dixie State tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth when Ashley McFarland walked, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a Coyotes error.
     The Red Storm got the game-winner in the top of the ninth. McFarland was placed on second under the international tie-breaker rule and scored on a single by Kelsey Mendenhall. The Coyotes got a runner to third base with one out, but Red Storm pitcher Lauren Folta (10-1) struck out Brittany Hoban and retired Courtney Wilhelms on a ground ball to end the game.
     Folta went the distance in the circle, allowing seven hits and striking out five. Senior right-hander Debbie Shisler also pitched all nine innings for CSUSB, giving up eight hits and only two of the four runs against her were earned. She struck out three as her record slipped to 9-7.
    Curiel was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple in the game. Curiel tripled and scored in the second on a sacrifice fly by Wilhelms and Alicia Cervantes knocked in Jacquelyn Holtzclaw for the team's second run of the inning.
    Dixie State's Jessie Kaonohi (3-3) pitched six innings of five-hit ball and struck out six without walking a batter as the Red Storm took a 6-0 lead into the fifth and scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to end the game by the eight-run mercy rule.
    CSUSB left-hander Cassidy Lee gave up four runs, all earned, on three hits. Reliever Maggie Karros yielded five runs, only two of which were earned thanks to three CSUSB errors. Lee (1-2) took the loss.
Mendenhall hit a three-run homer in the first for the Red Storm while Dabney McIntyre stroked a leadoff homer in the third for an early 4-0 lead.
    The only Coyotes run came in the fifth when Wilhelms reached on a fielder's choice, took second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Alex Mitchell. 
    Tori Beaudette and  Mitchell each went 2-for-2 for CSUSB in the game.