Huntington Beach, Calif. - The Golden West College baseball team opened the season with a two game set against Palomar College and dropped both games, 3-2 and 15-4. 

In Fridays home opener the Rustlers battled at the plate all day and the sophomore pitching duo of starter Josh Ibarra and reliever Wyatt Adams did all they could in the 3-2 loss. Ibarra tossed four innings surrendering three runs on three hits while striking out four and walking three batters. Right-handed reliever Adams came in and threw five shutout innings holding the Comets to two hits and stirking out two.

The Rustler offense produced two runs on six hits with sophomore catcher Austin Schell recording his first mult-hit game of the season. Freshman Jesse Fonteboa tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning after his base hit scored Seth Nelson. Sophomore Zakk Morgan drove in the Rustlers other run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third to give the Rustlers a brief 2-1 lead. Palomar would regain the lead 3-2 in the fifth inning after a big two out single that plated two runs and ultimately the winning runs. 

The Rustlers hit the road and traveled to Palomar for Saturdays lopsided loss that saw the Comets explode for eleven runs in the the fourth inning. Golden West's offense mustarded three hits and tried to take advantage of three Palomar errors en route to their 15-4 loss. Palomar started out with a bang in the first inning with a homerun and two out RBI single to take the early 2-0 lead. The Rustlers used a trio of walks and a single to get on the scoreboard and tie the game at 2-2 in the third inning. In the fourth inning, Eli Stuart led off with a hit by pitch and Nelson Padilla singled to set up a bunting opportunity for Ezele Wicks, who eventually struck out. However, the next batter, Justin Simpson would put the ball in play and Golden West would take the lead on an error by the short stop. 

Then the game took an abrupt turn in Palomar's favor as they were able to plate eleven runs on five hits and force Golden West to use four different pitchers in the inning. The Rustlers couldn't overcome the explosion in the fourth and lost 15-4. 

NEXT: Golden West will travel north to the College of the Sequoias Tournament on Thursday, January 31st for a 2pm start against the host college.