Comets secure series win over Knights in Thursday

SAN MARCOS, CA (4/7/2022) -- Palomar officially won the five-game series against San Diego City College on Thursday when they won 9-7 after winning 3-2 on Tuesday at home and splitting the first two games last month.

On Tuesday, the Comets found themselves down 2-0 going into the sixth inning, but they quickly got both runs back to tie the game. Batting leadoff, catcher Devlin Lindeman was hit by a pitch, which allowed right fielder Jack Sanders to double to make the score 2-1. After a flyout and a strikeout, left fielder Quincy Scott singled to bring home Sanders. The Comets took the lead in the eighth, after nearly an identical situation. Lindeman, leading off once again, was hit by a pitch. Sanders, this time singled to put runners on the corners. Second baseman Bryson Hashimoto then had a sac fly to centerfield that scored Lindeman. 

But the 3-2 win was not the best part of the day. It was closer Austin Schroeder, who picked up a conference-best seventh save. The lead-off City batter reached first on an error, then Schroeder hit the next batter to have runners on first and second. Locking in and doubling down, Schroeder struck out the next two batters. The runners then advanced on a wild pitch to put the tieing run on third and the go-ahead run on second. But no sweat for Schroeder, who had the final word, as he struck out the City batter and strand the runners.

The Comets continued to roll on Thursday as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning and tacked on three more in the fifth. 

It was a combination of singles, errors, stolen bases, and a lone triple that got the job done for the Comets. Palomar scored two runs on wild pitches, one in the seventh and another in the ninth, three times on a single, once on a successful steal attempt, and once on a triple by Scott. 

Starting pitcher Logan Parker went 7.2 innings where he allowed six runs on 12 hits to go along with three strikeouts. Schroeder came in to pitch the ninth and finished with a picket fence stat line: one inning pitched, one hit, one run, one walk, and one strikeout. That makes save number eight for Schroeder for a conference-best and in a 3-way tie for best in the state.

Palomar moves to 20-9 overall and 10-4 in PCAC play. Palomar and Grossmont are still tied for the PCAC title with one game to go in each of their series. The Comets and Knights will face one another for the final time this season on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start time.