SAN MARCOS — No. 2 Palomar softball got off to a hot start, scoring 12 runs off 10 hits in the first inning against Imperial Valley, sweeping the season series.

Palomar’s win not only sweeps another season series but also extends their record to 12-0 in conference play.

“It’s something we’ve been really trying to work on, continuing to score early and score often. We did a good job as a team today of being competitive in all of our at-bats,” Coach Lacey Craft said.

The comets were very competitive in their plate appearances, making contact in every plate appearance and not striking out once against their opponent.

Samantha Garcia went 2-3 with a double and four RBIs in the game.

“It was really important getting the offense rolling because we were able to put less stress on our pitcher and have her relaxed,” Garcia said.

Third baseman Breanna Lutz hit two doubles with an RBI; second baseman Josephine Heuberger hit a triple and two RBIs; and catcher Kayla Visser hit her first triple of the season and brought in two runs.

In her first start of the season, pitcher Kiara Flaviani had a dominant performance on the mound, allowing three hits and no runs while striking out five in her first start of the year to help lead the team to a 20-0 victory.

“I just wanted to hit my spots and spin the ball, knowing that the defense has my back behind me,” Flaviani said.

“It was a good job by the team continuing to score as the game went on, even when we have a lot of the defensive replacements that came in,” Coach Craft said.

The Comets’ next game is another conference showdown against Grossmont on the road on Wednesday, April 16, at 3 p.m.

The last time they matched up, Palomar won 8-0 at home at the beginning of April.

“Tomorrow, the goal is to be able to go on our last road game and prepare for our postseason on the road and play to win. We just want to play our game and execute our game plan, just like today. Score early, score often, and hold them on defense and have competitive pitching,” Craft said.