Comets stay tough against Jags

SAN MARCOS, CA (4/20/2024) -- The Palomar College baseball team continued their conference play this week with a three-game series against Southwestern College and finished 2-1. Palomar won game one 24-4 and dropped game two 3-2 before bouncing back on Saturday to win 9-5 to move to 27-9 overall and 20-2 in conference play.

In game one, the Comets exploded for 10 runs in the first inning when they hit for the cycle. They had six singles, a double by Noah Lazuka, a triple by Elijah Cook and a two-run shot by Ryan Rivera. They added three more in the third, five in the fourth, three in the fifth, another two in the sixth and one in the eighth. The Jaguars were held scoreless until the sixth when they plated three and one more in the seventh. Eric Van Valkenburg pitched 5.0 innings and allowed five hits and struck out four. Noah Benaiveds pitched two innings and allowed four runs on four hits and struck out two. Dillon Pearson made an appearance for an inning and recorded two strikeouts. Nathan Sally closed the game with two strikeouts in the ninth.

In game two, Ryan Herrod started on the bump for the Comets and pitched six innings. He allowed three runs, a two-run double in the first and a sac fly in the third, on eight hits and struck out four. Noah Waldeck pitched one inning and struck out one batter. Evan Langer closed it out with two strikeouts and one hit. The Comets got on the board in the second with an RBI single by Carter Jorissen who plated Ryan Rivera and an RBI ground out by Elijah Cook to score Jorissen. 

Ian Mowad started game three for the Comets and pitched six innings. He allowed five hits and struck out six batters in the 9-5 win. Holden Carpenter came in to pitch two innings and allowed two runs on one hit. He struck out two. Noah Waldeck closed out the game and allowed three runs on three hits. He also struck out two. On the offensive side of the ball, Makana Olaso continued his slugfest of a season going 4-5 with three RBI and two runs. He finished with a triple and doubles. Patrick McLellan had a solo home run in the second inning and finished 2-4. Noah Lazuka and Colby Rafail both finished 2-5 with an RBI each and two runs.

Palomar is slated to face San Diego City College in the regular season series finale. They will host the Knights on Tuesday and Friday with an away game at Morley Field on Thursday.