The Panthers squared off against one of the top teams in the nation on Saturday, travelling to Niagara Falls to take on SUNY Niagara. The Panthers lost both ends of the doubleheader, falling by scores of 10-0 and 9-1. TC3 is now 8-32 overall and 4-22 in the Region 3 West Division. Niagara, the only undefeated NJCAA team in the nation, improves to 44-0 overall and 25-0 in West Division.

Game One: Niagara 10, Tompkins Cortland 0   5 innings 

The Panthers had a good chance to score in the first inning. Keelan Marren (Skaneateles/Skaneateles H.S.) led off the game with a single. After two outs, Logan Meerburg (Whitby, Ont./Saint-Charles-Garnier) drew a walk, putting a runner in scoring position. Both runners were stranded when the next batter flew out.  The best chance came in the fourth when singles by Meerburg and Hunter Bola (St. Cloud, Fla./Tohopekaliga H.S.) sandwiched a walk by Noboru Shinohara (Tokyo, Japan/Dokkyo Saitama) to load the bases with one out. The threat ended with a fly out and strike out, and the Panthers were unable to mount another threat before Niagara ended the game by the run rule.

Game Two: Niagara 9, Tompkins Cortland 1  

The Panthers had just two hits in game two, but worked one into a run. Trailing 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning, Jason Winstanley (Lewiston/Lewiston-Porter H.S.) led off with a single, moved to second on a walk, and then came around to score on an error.

Parker Seeley (East Rochester/Northstar Christian Academy) was the only other Panther to record a hit in game two.

Looking ahead

The scheduled doubleheader between the Panthers and Thunderwolves scheduled for Sunday has been postponed. A makeup date is TBD.