Winter Haven, FL - With snow-covered fields up in Pennsylvania, the Cairn University Baseball team are playing their first games of the season in sunny Florida. The tournament is the Russmat Tournament, which plays host to a large number of baseball teams looking to get some game time in while their home fields are prepped.
Check back to this page for updates on all of the baseball team's games on their spring break trip. March 7, 2015 The first game for the Highlanders of 2015 was played on Saturday afternoon against Juniata College. Considering this was the first time the guys played outside all season, the opener was not the ideal start for any team.
With just one hit and four errors, the Highlanders were shut out by the Eagles 15-0 and the game was finished in seven innings due to the mercy rule. The Eagles opened up with four runs in the first inning and continued to increase the score from there.
The Highlanders started with
Joey Nieves-Markee on the mound and switched to
Ben Chapman for four innings, followed by
Matt Trotman in the seventh. The lone hit for Cairn was credited to
Trent Fiori, he also walked once, and struck out his other at bat.
March 8, 2015 The next day, Cairn forgot about the rough start and took down Medaille College, also shortened due to the mercy rule. The Mavericks and Highlanders played two scoreless innings before Cairn shot out of the gate with a three-run triple by
Caleb Lang. Tristen Ortega then doubled to score Lang and
Trent Fiori scored Ortega to give the Highlanders the 5-0 lead.
The Mavericks attempted to come back in the game, but two more five-run innings sealed the deal for Cairn and they earned their first win of the season. Lang led the team with seven RBIs; the junior doubled in the seventh to score two runs and tripled again in the eight to score another two runs.
Other notable hitters for Cairn in the game were Nieves-Markee with two hits and four runs scored and
Eric Hodges with two hits and two RBIs.
Tyson Rohrs started the game on the mound and pitched five innings for the Highlanders. Rohrs allowed five runs, three hits, and four walks in his first start of the season.
John Burlaga relieved for two innings and Lang finished off the game with one inning pitched.
The Highlanders moved to 1-1 with the win and will take a one-day break before getting back into action on Tuesday, Mar. 10, with a doubleheader against Trinity International.
March 10, 2015On their third day of competition at the Russmat Tournament, Cairn played Trinity International in a doubleheader and took a win in the second game 6-5. The Highlanders did not fare as well in the first game where they lost a 13-5 contest.
Matt Trotman had the loss for Cairn from the mound, while seven different players had one hit in the game. Three different Highlanders registered an RBI. Four out of the five runs by the Highlanders were scored in the final inning of the game.
Cairn looked to turn things around in game two of the doubleheader and shut out the Trojans through four innings.
Caleb Lang doubled twice in those four innings, scoring a run on each play.
Tristan Ortega also hit two RBIs for the Highlanders, one in the first and one in the fourth inning.
Caleb Moore had one other RBI for Cairn on a sacrifice fly that scored
Joey Nieves-Markee and
Zachary Vegh.
With a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning, The Highlanders had to fight off the Trojans who came back with five runs in the fifth and seventh innings combined.
Caleb Lang was pitching in the final inning and was able to get the save for Cairn.
The 1-1 split moved Cairn to 2-2 on their spring break trip, they will play again on Mar. 11 against Mount St. Joseph at 4 p.m.
March 11, 2015Cairn University lost to Mount St. Joseph on Wednesday 24-7, in their fifth game of their spring break trip in Florida. The Lions were too much for the Highlanders fro mthe batter's box and had 19 hits in the game, including a home run and two triples. Mount St. Joseph also took advantage of nine free base runners after being hit by pitches.
Caleb Lang led the offensive front for Cairn with four hits, three RBIs and two runs scored. Lang also hit his first home run of the season against the Lions.
Caleb Moore,
Trent Fiori,
John Burlaga, and
Kenneth Mercadante also had RBIs in the game for the Highlanders.
Nieves-Markee recorded the loss for the Highlanders as they dropped to 2-3 for their spring break trip. Cairn will return to action on Thursday when they face Curry College at 9 a.m.
March 12, 2015The Highlanders lost their fourth game of the spring break trip on Thursday afternoon after playing Curry College to a 7-3 result. Curry controlled the pace for the majority of the game, scoring seven unanswered runs through the first six innings of the game.
Tyson Rohrs pitched all eight innings for the Highlanders, struck out six batters and had four earned runs.
Cairn scored all three of their runs in the ninth inning with RBIs by
Caleb Lang,
John Burlaga, and
Eric Hodges. The Highlanders had just one less hit than the Colonels with seven.
Curry's opposing pitchers combined for eight strikeouts and two walks. Evan Morris led the Colonels with three RBIs and two hits. With the result, Cairn dropped to 2-4 overall, while Curry improved to 6-4 on the season. The Highlanders will play their final game of the break on Mar. 13 against New England College.
March 13, 2015Cairn lost in their final game of the season against New England College 11-8, but not without some theatrics. The game saw four homeruns hit by both teams combined; two for New England and two for Cairn. There were a combined 29 hits between the two teams along with 20 strikouts combined.
The game started with a bang when the Pilgrims hit a two-run homer in the first inning and it was followed up in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer by
Caleb Lang. Lang led the team with four hits, four runs scored, and two RBIs. The Homerun was Lang's second of the break and of the season.
New England College took the lead again in the fifth inning when Steve Munson hit a three-run homerun, but that did not go unanswered. The Highlanders' responded in the seventh inning when
John Burlaga hit a three-run shot over the fence to score Lang and
Tristan Ortega. That homer is Burlaga's first of the season and brought the Highlanders to within one at 9-8.
Unfortunately Cairn could not come up with any more runs in the game and New England scored two more in the ninth on a Highlanders' error. The loss in the last game of the break put the Highlanders at 2-5 for the season. Cairn will try to begin their home, and regular season this coming week if the weather and field conditions permit.
