The Tompkins Cortland Community College baseball team dropped the final two games of its season-opening weekend trip to Maryland, losing to Community College of Baltimore County-Catonsville 15-4 and 8-2 on Sunday. The Panthers went winless in four games against the Cardinals to start the season 0-4. Catonsville, a Division II team, is now 6-5 overall.

Game 1: CCBC-Catonsville 15, Tompkins Cortland 4

The Panthers came out strong. Shane Cuevas (Montgomery/Valley H.S.) led off with a single and moved to third on a double by Alex Babcock (Cortland/Cortland H.S.). Joseph Tummino (Homer/Homer H.S.) drove in the game's first run on a single to left, giving the Panthers the lead and moving Babcock to third. Brandon Grant (Homer/Homer H.S.) brought Babcock in with a sacrifice fly, and the Panthers had a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Unfortunately, the lead didn't last. In the bottom of the first, the Cardinals exploded for nine runs, knocking out Tompkins Cortland's starting pitcher and taking a 9-2 lead.

Not ready to roll over, the Panthers answered with the team's first homer of the season, a solo shot by Ryan Ballard (Rochester/Greece Athena H.S.) in the second to make the score 9-3. With relief pitcher Hyeon Ho Cho (Asan-si, South Korea/Sekwang) settling things down by getting out of the first inning and keeping the Cardinals off the board in the second, the score was 9-3 heading to the third. While the Panthers couldn't cut into the lead in the top of the frame, the Cardinals were able to tack on with six runs to make it 15-3 after three innings. A single run by the Panthers in the fourth was the final run for either team as the game ended with a 15-4 score.

Five Panthers had base hits, with Ballard leading the way with a homer and Austin Kulas (Moravia/Moravia H.S.) and Babcock each knocking doubles.

Game 2: CCBC-Catonsville 8, Tompkins Cortland 2

The Cardinals scored in three of the first four innings to take a 6-0 lead. The Panthers broke through with two runs in the fourth inning to make the score 6-2, but Catonsville sealed the win with a pair in the bottom of the sixth.

Kulas finished game two with a pair of hits and an RBI. Babcock, Grant, and Jinwoo Baek (Osan-si, South Korea, Yatap) each had a single.

Looking ahead

The Panthers continue non-region play by traveling to New York City for a doubleheader against Kingsborough Community College on Saturday and a single game against Middlesex County College on Sunday.