RICK HOFF - For the North County Times

SAN MARCOS -- The Palomar College baseball team's chances of advancing to the state Final Four were considerably shored up on Friday.

Ace Bobby Shore pitched a five-hit shutout and was supported by a 13-hit assault as the Comets blanked Mt. San Antonio, 5-0, in the first game of the Southern California Super Regional at Meyers Field.

Palomar (35-11-1), which broke the school record for victories set by the 2005 team, will stay at home to face Santa Ana on Saturday at noon. Santa Ana beat Long Beach City 6-0 in Friday's other game.

Mt. San Antonio was relegated to a losers' bracket game Saturday morning at San Diego Mesa College.

Palomar, ranked No. 1 in Southern California and No. 6 in the country, had not played a game since completing a two-game playoff sweep of Citrus on Saturday, but the top-seeded Comets were crisp in every facet against Mt. SAC.

"We prepared hard all week," said sophomore shortstop Tyler Saladino, the Pacific Coast Conference player of the year, who had a single and a double for the Comets. "We ended our last practice on a good note, and it carried over onto the field. There was no other focus but just on this one game, and you could see it in everybody.

"And you've got to give a hand to Bobby Shore. He saves our bullpen, and when you possibly have to play four or five games in three days, that's huge."

Shore, a sophomore right-hander out of Oceanside High, scattered five hits and walked none while striking out seven in the first complete game turned in by a Palomar starter this season.

"The key was just being ahead in the count," said Shore, who will pitch for Oklahoma next season. "The last inning when I went to 3-2 on the first batter, I was feeling it."

Shore (11-1) threw 106 pitches and went to a three-ball count on only three of the 30 batters he faced. Of the five Mounties who reached base with a hit, two were erased by double plays, including a game-ending 6-4-3 gem turned by Saladino and second baseman Terrence Buchanan.

"We were ready to go," Shore said. "This is when the season starts, and we had what I thought was our best practice week of the season. Everybody was real loose."

It didn't take long for the Comets' bats to shake off any rust they may have accumulated during the five days off. Designated hitter Leland Sisco hit a booming one-out double to left-center field with one out in the first inning and scored two pitches later on a line-drive single up the middle by Saladino.

Palomar (35-11-1) padded its lead in the third inning against Mt. SAC starter Shane Youngdale with five straight hits, all with two out. Alfredo Casillas started the rally with a single, and Matt Carvutto provided the big blow with a two-run double to right.

"Our bats have been doing that all season, and when you're up five runs, it makes it so much easier to pitch," Shore said.

Those five runs were plenty enough support for Shore.

"He had all four of his pitches working," Palomar catcher B.K. Santy. "When he throws them all for strikes, I don't have to move the glove much."

Santy, a freshman out of Rancho Bernardo, also contributed on offense with two hits, including an RBI single that capped the third-inning uprising. Carvutto, a Poway High product, also had two hits as the Comets collected six doubles and did not go down in order until the eighth inning. Every player in the Comets' lineup had at least one hit.

"Bobby pitched his butt off, and we did a good job swinging the bats," coach Buck Taylor said. "I liked my guys' approach to the game. We weren't passive and we were putting it in play.

"We had a great week of practice. We grinded on them, and they responded."

Mt. SAC (30-17) qualified for the Super Regional as a No. 14 seed after upsetting No. 3 seed Cuesta last weekend in a best-of-three playoff series. The Mounties and Comets split a pair of regular-season games, but Shore was too much for Mt. SAC this time around.

"Bobby had his two- and four-seamer going, and I thought his changeup was his best pitch today," Taylor said. "He was tough as nails."

The four-team Southern California Super Regional concludes Sunday at Meyers Field, with the tournament winner advancing to the state Final Four next weekend in Fresno.

Contact Rick Hoff at rickhoff1@hotmail.com.