After a week-long layoff due to the weather, the Panthers baseball team got back on the field Thursday, playing at Cayuga Community College. The Mid-State Athletic Conference showdown went the way of the Spartans with Cayuga sweeping the doubleheader, 11-5 and 10-2. Tompkins Cortland is now 2-12 overall and 2-6 against MSAC opponents. Cayuga is 15-5 overall and 6-0 in MSAC competition.

Game One: Cayuga 11, Tompkins Cortland 5

Cayuga entered the day with one of the most high-powered offenses in the region, and they showed why. The Spartans put up crooked numbers in the second, third, and fourth innings, building a 9-2 lead. The Panthers put up three runs in the top of the sixth cut the deficit to five runs at 10-5, but a Spartans home run in the sixth – the team's fourth homer of the game – made the final margin 11-5.

Parker Stein (Spencerport/Spencerport H.S.) paced the offense for the Panthers with two hits. Jacob Bogacz (Morrisville/Morrisvile-Eaton H.S.) scored a pair of runs while going 1-for-2 at the plate.

Game Two: Cayuga 10, Tompkins Cortland 2

Tompkins Cortland started the scoring in game two, pushing across two runs in the top of the first. Cayuga responded with two in the bottom of the inning, and then moved ahead with four in the second and another run in the third. The Spartans put the game away with a three-run fifth.

Jordan Shortsleeve (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) went 1-for-2 with the team's lone extra-base hit of the day – a double.

Looking ahead

The Panthers return to Dryden to host Cayuga on Saturday at noon.