In a tragic finish at Oil City Stadium on Thursday, the Panthers fell to the NWI Oilmen in the tenth inning. While the game goes on the scoresheet as a loss, the Panthers have some positives to take away.

Indiana opened scoring in the first with Dom Owens walking with bases loaded. Seth McWilliams followed up with a sac-fly bringing the Panthers up by two to start the game.

The scoreboard went quiet until the bottom of the third, when Pustelnik made a throwing error to third on a potential double play, bringing a run in. The Panthers finished the inning still up by one.

Indiana found their groove in the sixth as Jack Salzeider hit an RBI single to left, making the score 3-1.

The Panthers ran out of luck in the bottom of the seventh, giving up an RBI single followed by an RBI triple. One more run was walked in before the end of the inning, making the score 4-3 in favor of NWI.

With one out to go before the Oilmen would have claimed victory, Arnoldo Velazquez hit a perfect RBI single to right, tying the game. The team did not manage to put another run on the board but they made it up on the field, putting the game into the tenth.

In a whirlwind of a tenth inning, Michael Pustelnik hit a double that brought in both runners from the corners, taking a two-run lead. Justin Johnson continued the scoring by walking in a run, followed by Brek Baranowski's ground out that brought Dylan Passauer across the plate in his first game with the Panthers. Indiana had the lead 4-0 going into the bottom of the inning.

With the fans believing the Panthers had given the Oilmen their first loss of the season, the Oilmen came back with force. NWI brought in two runs on hits and two more on errors. With bases loaded, a full count, and two outs, the Brydak took the final pitch inside to win the game for the Oilmen.

Jaden Jones pitched six innings on the mound in his Panthers debut, only giving up three hits and one unearned run. Luke Fassoth took the mound for the second time this season, pitching 3.2 innings and ultimately taking the loss.

Head Coach Sean Pierce was certainly frustrated with the game's finish, speaking on the team's frequent errors in all three games so far this season. "You have to stay mentally focused for, in this case, 30 outs. We were good for about 28 and these last two took a lot... We got 29 outs, not 30."

Panthers fans definitely feeling the crushing blow of being on top of the number one team in the league and giving up a heart-breaker. The team still has two more opportunities to take them down this weekend, with another game at Oil City Stadium on Saturday and a double-header in Highland on Sunday.