The Tompkins Cortland Community College baseball team snapped a 14-game losing streak by splitting a doubleheader at SUNY Broome on Sunday. The Panthers won the opener 5-4 before dropping the nightcap 10-0. Tompkins Cortland is now 3-15 overall on the year. Broome stands at 3-13.
Game One: Tompkins Cortland 5, Broome 4
The Panthers entered Sunday having not won since the season-opening sweep of Jefferson Community College on March 18. Things started well in game one, with the Panthers scoring twice in the first and then adding another in the second. Broome answered with two runs in the third before Nate Macek (Pittsford/Rush Henrietta H.S.) doubled and came in to score on a Dylan Higgins (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson H.S.) single to make the score 4-2 in the fifth. But the Hornets replied again, scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score. After a scoreless sixth, Jordan Shortsleeve (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) singled and the worked his way around the bases on passed balls to score what proved to be the game-winning run in the seventh.
Starting pitcher Brenden Ryder (Roscoe/Roscoe H.S.) worked into the sixth inning before turning the ball over to Jacob Bogacz (Morrisville/Morrisville-Eaton H.S.), who finished the sixth and earned the win. Nick Cody (Cortland/Cortland H.S.) pitched a perfect seventh to record the save and put the Panthers back in the win column.
Game Two: Broome 10, Tompkins Cortland 0 (5 innings)
After pulling out the win in game one, the Panthers couldn't muster any dramatic rallies in game two. While the Hornets steadily put runs on the board, Tompkins Cortland struggled to get runners on. The lone baserunner came on a single by Isaiah Daniels (Atlanta, Ga./Hampton H.S.) in the third inning, and he was erased from the base paths on a double play. While the Panther didn't strike out at all in game two, no one else was able to reach safely, and when Broome reached 10 runs in the fifth inning, the game was stopped due to the 10-run rule and the teams had a split of the doubleheader.
Looking ahead
The Panthers are scheduled to host Genesee Community College Tuesday. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.