Comets fall to Mt. SAC despite Lutz HRs

SAN MARCOS (4/13/2024) – Two top-10 teams with a combined 11 state softball championships between them met on the new field at Palomar College on Saturday, and four home runs later it was No. 7 Mt. San Antonio College prevailing over No. 2 Palomar with a 6-4 nonconference victory.

The game was the second in as many days at the newly-opened on-campus softball venue for the Comets, who posted a 3-0 shutout win over Southwestern on Friday to secure their 10^th consecutive Pacific Coast Athletic Conference championship.  

Mt. San Antonio, in the thick of the race for the South Coast Conference pennant, wasted no time getting on the scoreboard against Palomar as freshman catcher Morgan Kneubuhler followed two hit batters with a two-out, three-run home run to left field off Palomar starting pitcher and 20-game winner Guilianna "Gigi" Clavel in the top of the first inning.

The four-bagger was the first for the new ballpark, but it didn't take long for Palomar to show some power as freshman first baseman Breanna Lutz slugged a solo homer to left with one out in the bottom of the first to become the first Comet to go deep in the new facility.

Kneubuhler was not done as her second at-bat resembled the first when she followed a leadoff hit batter in the third inning with a two-out, two-run home run to left for a 5-1 Mounties lead. It was the team-leading eighth homer of the season for the Mt. SAC backstop, currently tied for third-most in the state.

Lutz again responded for the hosts with a big bat in the fifth with her second homer of the contest, a two-run blast to straightaway center after freshman second baseman Josephine Heuberger singled down the left-field line. The team-leading fifth home run for Lutz cut the Mounties' lead to 5-3, but the visitors responded with a run in the top of the seventh on a triple and a sacrifice fly to pad their advantage to 6-3.

Palomar loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh when freshman catcher Kayla Visser was hit by a pitch, Heuberger reached on an infield single to the left side and Lutz was hit by a pitch. Visser scored on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop by sophomore right fielder Faith Steffany, but the Comets could not push across any additional runs.

The loss was just the third of the season against 30 wins for Palomar, while six-time state champion Mt. SAC improved to 28-7. Clavel absorbed the defeat and is now 20-3. She pitched three innings before being relieved by freshman Nevaeh Haywood, who hurled a three-hit shutout the previous day against Southwestern. Haywood pitched four innings on Saturday, allowing one run on three hits.

The three runs driven in by Lutz gave her 41 RBIs for the season, which leads the Comets and is currently the fifth-highest total in the state.

With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, Palomar will play its next four games on the road. The Comets visit San Diego Mesa on April 17 for a PCAC contest before travelling to Santa Clarita on April 20 for a nonconference doubleheader at College of the Canyons.

The Comets close out conference play April 23 at San Diego City before hosting a pair of non-conference rain make-up games on April 24 against top-ranked Fullerton and April 25 against No. 18 Cerritos.

The 3C2A playoffs begin May 3 with the Southern California Regionals, and the eight-team state tournament is slated for May 16-19 at West Valley College.