No. 10 Palomar splits opening series with Southwestern
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Southwestern | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
|
Palomar | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 14 | 17 | 1 |
SAN MARCOS, CA (3/8/2022) -- Palomar opened up Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play as the No. 4 team in Southern California and the No. 10 team in the state. The Comets have already knocked off No. 2 Saddleback College, No. 3 Riverside City College, No. 6 Glendale College and No. 9 Orange Coast College in preseason play and jumped an astonishing 13 spots in the CCCSIA poll and 14 spots in the coaches regional poll because of it. The Comets were confident, to say the least, as they faced Southwestern College.
The Comets jumped out to a 3-0 lead after five innings, but the Jaguars came back to score four runs to win the first of five games this season 4-3. On Saturday, the Comet's bats came to life, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first. It wasn't until the third inning when the Jaguars got two runs on the board. Leading 8-2, the Comets tacked on four additional runs in their half of the inning. Rightfielder Jack Sanders singled to lead off the inning and Tanner Lappin was then hit by a pitch. The duo stole second and third with catcher Devlin Lindeman up to bat. For the fifth time this season, Lindeman hit the ball of the yard for a 3-run home run. Third baseman Kyle Harvey then doubled and stole third base to seure the final run for the Comets that inning on an infield ground ball to short. Palomar went on to win 14-4 to even the series at 1-1.
Logan Parker and Dylan Delvecchio have the Comet's aces so far this season. Parker pitched game one and threw seven complete innings where he allowed two runs on six hits and recorded six strikeouts. Delvecchio threw for five innings and allowed three runs on six hits and struck out six batters. He was the winning pitcher and picked up his second win this season to stay perfect. Parker leads the conference with four wins this season, while Delvecchio leads the PCAC with 44 strikeouts. Parker is right behind him with 35. Austin Schroeder, who was the closer in Thursday's matchup, has a conference best of five saves.
Palomar moves to 11-5 overall and 1-1 in PCAC play. They will face San Diego City College on Tuesday on the road and will be home on Thursday. First pitches are scheduled for 2 p.m.