Stephens dominates on both sides as Comets blank Mt. San Jacinto 12-0 in regional opener

SAN MARCOS, CA (5/1/2026) – Elijah Stephens didn't leave much room for doubt Friday afternoon at Bob Vetter Field. The freshman two-way standout threw seven innings of one-hit, shutout baseball and went 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBI at the plate as the No. 1 seed Palomar College Comets opened the 2026 3C2A SoCal Regional with a dominant 12-0 victory over No. 24 Mt. San Jacinto College.

It was one of those performances that doesn't come around often. Stephens retired the Eagles in order through long stretches, allowing just one hit while striking out six and walking four across seven frames before Dylan Berentis and Chance Crawford closed it out with two perfect innings. Mt. San Jacinto managed a single hit on the afternoon.

Then Stephens stepped into the batter's box and kept going. His home run in the seventh capped a five-RBI day that also included a two-base hit among his four knocks. Preston Conklin tripled and drove in three, Justin Tucker went 2-for-4 and scored twice, and Braedon Peterson-Cheek doubled and scored twice from the leadoff spot. Jacob Loving and Adrian Macias each drove in a run as Palomar spread the damage across the lineup.

Earlier in the day, No. 16 Mt. San Antonio College defeated Mt. San Jacinto with a 5-4 win in Game 1, setting up Friday afternoon's matchup and advancing the Mounties to Game Three on Saturday. The two teams will meet tomorrow at 1 p.m. in what is now a best-of-three series with another game scheduled Sunday regardless of the outcome. The winner of the regional advances to the Super Regional the following weekend.