By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

No. 10 seed College of the Canyons will travel to face No. 7 Palomar College in a best-of-three series during the opening round of the California Community College Athletic Association Southern California Regional Playoffs May 4-5 in San Marcos.

Canyons (27-12, 16-4) won five straight, and 10 of its final 11, down the stretch but finished a game back of conference champion Glendale College in the Western State Conference East Division.

The Cougars were an impressive 17-3 at home and an even 8-8 in road contests. COC also went 2-1 on neutral fields. As a team, Canyons batted .300 and ranked second in the state with 41 home runs. The COC pitching staff had an ERA of 3.84 for the season.

COC outfielder Calvin Estrada finished the season with a team-high 13 home runs and a state-leading .458 batting average. Sophomore starting pitcher Jacob Lopez ended the year 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA and a state-best 119 strikeouts across 82 innings.

Palomar (26-14, 17-7) was champion of the Pacific Coast Conference to earn automatic host status for the regional playoff round.

The Comets won three of their final four games, ending with a home record of 13-8 and road mark of 12-5. Palomar was 1-1 on neutral fields.

PCC posted a .330 team batting average to rank second in the state, while Comet pitchers combined for a 3.69 ERA.

Palomar boasted two .400 hitters in Michael Galvan (.409) and Conor McKenna (.403) but hit just nine home runs as a team.

The two clubs have not yet met this season.

Canyons and Palomar will begin its series at 2 p.m. Friday, May 4.

Action will resume the following day at 11 a.m. with a potential third and final game scheduled to follow at approximately 2 p.m.

Entry to CCCAA playoff contests is $12 for general admission and $8 for students and staff with ID, senior citizens and children under 12 years old.

A full schedule of CCCAA Regional Playoff matchups can be found here.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.