Why was I put against someone rated 1000+ points higher than me?

I am rated 301. Yeah, it's laughable, I know - I've never properly played chess and got put in my first game against someone rated 200 points higher than me, I blundered my Queen because I didn't pay enough attention and from there it went down hill to the point where I resigned and it was -98 points for me off the 400 default. 

I went into the second game thinking I would be matched with someone else who was actually close to my level (extreme beginner), but instead it matched me with someone who was rated 1362.

I thought it could be because I queued for 20 minute timers and I presume it's not one of the main ones(?). However, I found that match literally instantly, so it hardly waiting around to find a better match.

I made stupid mistakes but it was clear they were far better than me anyway. It only took off 1 point when I lost against them and I don't know how the rating system works on here but presumed that was because even the computer knew it was a ridiculous match. But again, why would it pit me against them then?

I also wasn't sure which category to label this as but chose 'For Beginners' because people are not going to stick around if they join and get trashed because all their first matches are pitifully matchmade. 

In Custom Game you can select the rating range you want to play against. The default may be set too wide for your liking. A good range for improvement is, say -50 to +200. It's good to play opponents rated up to 200 points higher. This will help improvement. If opponents are too high though, you may not know why you lost.

Thank you, I'll definitely take a look at it. I knew I'd likely lose most if not all of my early matches but I thought that 1000 points higher than me was a bit of a joke hahaha. Thanks again.