Pirates fall to Comets in extras

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball team pushed the No. 2 team in the state into extra innings, but in the end, the long ball did the Pirates in as visiting Palomar earned an 8-5, eight-inning win on Friday at the OCC Softball Stadium.

The undefeated Comets (12-0), who entered Friday's matchup with the Pirates (3-6) with an unconscious .486 team batting average, saw their bats silenced for most of the final four innings by Pirate relief pitcher Kelsey McNair before the guests used a pair of eighth-inning home runs to break the 5-5 tie.

McNair held Palomar to just three hits over her first 4 2/3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts before a solo home run by .622 hitter, Alexis Huey and a two-run blast off the bat of .690 hitter, Kristina Deal proved to be the difference.

Coast led 4-1 after the first two innings. A solo home run by McNair to lead off the first got the OCC offense going. In the second, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch by Madison Gregory was followed by a two-run single to right off the bat of Kayla Vargas.

Palomar quickly responded with four runs in the top of the third for a 5-4 advantage before an RBI-double down the left-field line by Marissa Sardinas (2-for-4, one run, one RBI) in the bottom of the fifth tied the game back up at 5. Victoria Ruiz (2-for-4) followed with a single to left, moving Sardinas to third and after the ball got away from the Palomar catcher, Sardinas broke for the plate, but Comet catcher Dominique Garcia quickly pounced on the ball and fired a strike to pitcher Kiara Flaviani, who tagged out Sardinas at the plate to keep the game tied at 5.

Coast had the leadoff batters on base in the seventh and eighth innings but the Comets made the big pitches late and kept the Pirates off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Palomar relief pitcher Gianna Burgin threw two scoreless innings to pick up the win, while the starter, Flaviani, came back into the game and pitched a scoreless eighth for her first save of the season.

Coast returns to action on Tuesday at home against Fullerton College, beginning at 2 p.m. in the Orange Empire Conference opener for both teams.