On Thursday, the Panthers traveled to Oil City to make an attempt at their first win against the league's top team. At the end of the game, Indiana came up short on the scoreboard after being out-hit by four.

The Oilmen started the scoring in the first with three singles and a run on a groundout. NWI had a 3-0 lead early.

The Panthers found a run in the third after walks from Jack Salzeider and Arnoldo Velazquez. Michael Pustelnik took the RBI with a single on a line to right field. Salzeider scored, but Velazquez failed his attempt to take the second run and was tagged out. Only one run scored in the top of the third.

The Oilmen retained some insurance in the bottom of the third with an error in the field, a double, a single, and a double steal to score two more. A four-run lead would be the biggest lead in the game for NWI, as they did not score for the rest of the game.

The boys in blue found their stride in the fourth, starting with a leadoff double from Danny Puplava. Gino Gazzillo immediately followed with a two-run bomb over the right field foul pole. Indiana was within two runs with more than half the game to go.

The fifth inning gave the Panthers another run on a single from Salzeider and an RBI knock to center from Dillon Romano.

In the top of the ninth, Vinnie Marvucic was ready to tie the game on first base after a single to right field, but was ultimately left stranded to end the game. Final score in Whiting was 5-4.

Northern League All-Star Anthony Scanlon pitched the full game on the mound for Indiana. He gave up two earned runs and struck out seven, bringing his ERA to 1.4 this summer.

As mentioned previously, Gino Gazzillo had a massive homer to right field in the fourth. After the game, Gazzilllo mentioned that he had predicted a fastball and luckily made good contact. The Panthers coach, Sean Pierce, was very happy with the energy that it gave the team. "That was a big time hit. Definitely provided a lot of energy for the fellas and that definitely kept us in the game."

Vinnie Marvucic had an amazing outing in center field, shagging seven fly balls including a diving grab in the fourth. Pierce was not surprised that the outfielder was a vacuum. "He's definitely playing out of position. He's usually a corner guy, but I noticed early on that he can cover some ground and he's been playing great for us."

The Oilmen remain the only team Indiana has not beaten this summer. The two teams are only scheduled to meet four more times before the fall. Pierce seemed positive after the game that the boys in blue will take a win eventually. "We're right there against these guys. Every time it seems like its a one-run game. Right now, we just gotta hit."

The Panthers travel back to Elkhart to play the Miracle on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed on Elkhart County's network.