After seeing a 4-1 lead evaporate, the Panthers baseball team rallied for a 5-4 win in the opener of a West Division doubleheader against Onondaga Community College on Saturday. The rally fell short in the nightcap as the Panthers lost game two 10-8 to split the doubleheader. Tompkins Cortland is now 10-10 overall and 6-4 in West Division play. Onondaga is 6-14 overall and 4-12 in West Division.

Tompkins Cortland 5, Onondaga 4

The Panthers scored twice in the first inning and led 4-1 after three innings, but Onondaga rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Jinwoo Baek (Osan-si, South Korea/Yatap H.S.) singled and was lifted for pinch runner Isaiah Reyes (Tonawanda/Kenmore East H.S.). Reyes set the stage by stealing second, and then ended the game by coming around to score the game-winning run on a single by Alex Babcock (Cortland/Cortland H.S.).

Babcock, Joseph Tummino (Homer/Homer H.S.), and Austin Kulas (Moravia/Moravia H.S.) each had two hits for the Panthers, with Kulas driving in three. Joey Kench (West Henrietta/Rush-Henrietta H.S.) earned the win in relief, coming in to finish the sixth and then working a scoreless seventh.

Onondaga 10, Tompkins Cortland 8

The Panthers fell behind early in game two and trailed 9-2 after five innings. Two runs in the sixth made it 9-4, but Onondaga tacked on another run in the top of the seventh to lead 10-4 going to the bottom of the seventh. The Panthers rallied again, but this time came up just short, scoring four runs and putting the tying runs on base before running out of outs.

The same trio of Babcock, Tummino, and Kulas each had a pair of hits in game two. Babcock drove in three runs and Kulas had two RBI.

Looking ahead

Sunday's doubleheader at Onondaga has been postponed due to an unfavorable weather forecast. That means next up on the schedule is a doubleheader at Finger Lakes Community College on Tuesday.