The Panthers softball team snapped a season-long losing streak on Tuesday, rallying to beat Cayuga Community College in extra innings, 9-7, in game one of a doubleheader in Auburn. Cayuga took game two 12-0, but the win in game one ended a 14-game skid for the Panthers. Tompkins Cortland is now 1-15 overall and in Region III. Cayuga is 5-11 overall and 5-9 in Region III.

Tompkins Cortland 9, Cayuga 7 (8 innings)

Cayuga took an early lead, scoring once in the second and twice more in the third. The Panthers plated a single run in the third but Cayuga responded with runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Trailing 5-1 entering the sixth, the Panthers rallied. Amanda Green (Lansing/Lansing H.S.) started the inning by reaching on an error. Elizabeth Ripley (Moravia/Home School) had a double later in the inning as the Panthers scored twice to make it 5-3. The seventh inning saw Paige Graham (Groton/Groton H.S.) opened the frame by being hit by a pitch. Emily Aloi (Cortland/Homer H.S.) was next with a double, and Brianna Stafford (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) followed with a single. The result was two runs and a tied score. When the Panthers retired the Spartans in the bottom of the seventh, the game went to extra innings.

In the eighth, the first four hitters all had hits, producing four runs. Stafford made the lead stand in the bottom of the innings, recording the final out with a strikeout with the tying runs on second and third base.

Stafford earned the win in the circle, pitching all eight innings, striking out six and allowing just two earned runs. Ripley and Graham each had three hits while Stafford and Mackenzie Constable (Sidney/Sidney H.S.) each had two.

Cayuga 12, Tompkins Cortland 0 (5 innings)

After getting 13 hits in the opener, the Panthers were limited to just one hit in game two. Constable stroked a double in the first inning before Cayuga pitching retired 14 in a row. A fifth-inning walk to Tessa Hilker (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) was the only other time a Panther reached base in game two.

Despite the lack of offense, the Panthers kept things close until the fifth. Holding a 5-0 lead, the Spartans added seven runs in the fifth to put the game away.

Looking ahead

The Panthers are scheduled to host SUNY Adirondack Wednesday at 3 p.m.