Despite hitting their first two home runs of the year, the Panthers baseball team couldn't keep up with the explosive Cayuga offense, losing a doubleheader on Saturday 22-7 and 22-2.  Tompkins Cortland drops to 2-14 overall and 2-8 against MSAC opponents. Cayuga is 17-5 overall and 8-0 in MSAC competition.

Game One: Cayuga 22, Tompkins Cortland 7   (5 innings)

Cayuga scored in every inning and never trailed, but the Panthers still recorded some highlights. In the second inning, Jacob Bogacz (Morrisville/Morrisville-Eaton H.S.) drove a ball over the 380 foot sign in left-center for the first home run of the season for the Panthers. One inning later, Nate Macek (Pittsford/Rush Henrietta H.S.) followed his lead, blasting a three-run homer and giving Tompkins Cortland a multi-homer game for the first time in six years.

The Panthers added three runs in the fifth, and Macek and Bogacz were again involved. Macek drove in two on a single and eventually came around to score on a groundout by Bogacz. The duo accounted for all seven Tompkins Cortland RBI in the game, with Macek driving in five and Bogacz two. Gabriel Fonseca (Miami, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) also had a good game from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Game Two: Cayuga 22, Tompkins Cortland 2   (5 innings)

It took the Panthers longer to get the offense going in game two, and by the time they did, Cayuga had put the game away. The Spartans opened with seven runs in the first, knocking out the Panthers starting pitcher, and then continued to add on with two in the second, ten in the third, and three more in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth the Panthers finally broke through, taking advantage of two Cayuga errors to push across two runs.

Macek and Dylan Higgins (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson H.S.) each had a double, with Higgins picking up an RBI on his two-bagger. Fonseca had the only other hit for the home team in game two.

Looking ahead

The Panthers play at SUNY Broome on Sunday.