The Panthers visited Oil City on Wednesday to play the first place Oilmen. Even after out-hitting NWI and putting less errors on the board, Indiana still lost by one run.

In the second inning, Gino Gazzillo hit a double followed by a walk from Alex Contreras. Brek Baranoski took his opportunity for an RBI by putting a knock into center to bring Gazzillo and Contreras home. Panthers took an early 2-0 lead.

The Oilmen struck right back with two free bases, a double, and a fielder's choice. After two full innings of play, NWI was up 3-2.

The Panthers came back in the fifth starting with Arnoldo Velazquez's leadoff single. After advancing on a passed ball and a ground ball, he was brought home when Colin Early reached on an error. Vinnie Marvucic brought Early around to score with a single. Indiana took the lead back 4-3.

Two singles brought the men from Whiting back into the game. The sixth gave the Oilmen another two runs with a walk, error, and single. The score after six was 6-4 in favor of NWI.

The Panthers almost rallied to tie the game in the eighth. Marvucic singled and Gazzillo reached on an error. Max Hoogeveen pinch hit and put a perfect grounder in to left field to bring a runner home.

The Oilmen put two more runs in with a double, single, and a fielding error. The score after eight innings was 8-5.

The top of the ninth brought a thick silence in the air as the fans of both teams were very nervous. Jack Salzeider reached on an error followed by a walk from Dom Owens. Danny Puplava took his first hit as a Panther with a grounded single to right field to bring Salzeider home. Marvucic doubled to score Owens and put the Panthers within a run. Gazzillo walked the bases loaded and the team looked to Contreras to take at least one RBI. A nail-biter of a double play ended the game and gave the Oilmen another win.

Luke Fassoth started on the bump for the boys in blue. He pitched just over five innings and gave up four earned runs. Fassoth ended up taking the loss on the mound. Seth McWilliams pitched the rest of the game with only one earned run.

This loss can be chalked up to two things: poorly timed errors and hitting with runners in scoring position. The Panthers batted .333 when there was a runner on second or third. There were also errors in the bottom of the ninth and the bottom of the sixth which led to runs for the Oilmen. Sean Pierce, the head coach of Indiana was also disappointed with the team's performance at the plate. " We're just trying to do too much when we see guys that we have a chance to knock in and get an RBI. We're just taking too big of swings and we just have to cut down and put the ball in play."

The Panthers return to Elkhart once again on Friday to take on a very difficult Miracle team. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET and can be watched where Elkhart County streams their games.