The Panthers baseball team split a non-region doubleheader on Friday, dropping the opener to Ocean County College (N.J.) 7-1 before coming back to win the nightcap 13-12 in extra innings. The Panthers are now 3-5 on the year; the Vikings are 2-10.

Game One: Ocean 7, Tompkins Cortland 1

Logan Meerburg (Whitby, Ont./Saint-Charles-Garnier) was the hitting star for the Panthers in game one, going 3-for-3 and scoring the team's lone run. Five other Panthers collected one hit each, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Vikings as the home team put together a big fourth inning to take control of the game.

Game Two: Tompkins Cortland 13, Ocean 12 (8 innings)

The offense got going in game two, scoring a run in the first and two more in the third. That's when the rollercoaster started: Ocean tied the score with three in the bottom of the third, but the Panthers regained the lead with five in the top of the fourth, only to see that lead evaporate as the Viking plated six in the bottom of the inning to lead 9-8. The home team added a single run in the sixth, sending the Panthers to their last at bats trailing 10-8. In the top of the seventh, Jason Winstanley (Lewiston/Lewiston-Porter H.S.) and Julian Poleon (Brooklyn/Abraham Lincoln H.S.) reached, but the next two batters truck out, leaving TC3 just one out left. Back-to-back errors by the Vikings let both Winstanley and Poleon score, tying the game. A single by Keelan Marren (Skaneateles/Skaneateles H.S.) plated two more before the inning was over, but the Vikings rallied on their own, hitting a two-run homer to force extra innings.

In the eighth, Aiden Huften (Union-Endicott/Union-Endicott H.S.) led off with a walk, and pinch-runner Noboru Shinohara (Tokyo, Japan/Dokkyo Saitama) moved up on a sacrifice bunt and groundout. After walk, Talfourd Wynne (Philadelphia/Indian River H.S.) came up big with a two-out RBI to put the Panthers ahead. Erik Grullon (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth H.S.) made it stand, striking out two while pitching a scoreless bottom of the inning for the save.

Marren finished game two with three hits, including a double and a triple, a five RBI. Winstanley and Parker Seeley (East Rochester/Northstar Christian Academy) each had two hits, with Seeley driving in three.

Looking ahead

The Panthers host SUNY Broome on campus on Saturday. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon.