LANGHORNE, PA- The Highlanders opened their home schedule this afternoon against the College of Saint Elizabeth, splitting the doubleheader with a 4-3 win in the first game and a 1-7 loss in the second.
Cairn ace Krista Earl took the mound for the Highlanders as they sought to break above the .500 mark once more. Cairn drew first blood in the second inning. Earl helped her cause with a single up the middle, before promptly stealing second base and advancing to third on a passed ball. With the table set, Jenna Alshay did her job, putting the ball in play and knocking Earl home for the first run of the day. Saint Elizabeth battled back in the next inning with two runs to take the lead, but the Highlanders answered in the bottom of the fourth with two runs of their own. Earl started the rally once more with a single, Carly Ryle walked, and Reaven East tagged a double to give Cairn a 3-2 lead. The Eagles tied the game once more in the top of the fifth before each team's offense dried up over the next couple innings. Entering extra innings, both teams agreed to observe the international tiebreaker rule with a runner starting on second base. With the first chance at scoring, the College of Saint Elizabeth loaded the bases, but Krista Earl showed incredible poise, striking out the side and escaping the dire situation. Angela Paskitti started on second base for Cairn and the shortstop advanced to third on an Earl groundout to second base. Paskitti broke for home when Sony MacBain grounded to third base, caught in a rundown Paskitti dodged back-and-forth before diving for home and scoring the Highlanders winning run.
With darkness rapidly approaching, the Highlanders struggled to keep up the momentum after a thrilling game one. Saint Elizabeth took control quickly with six runs over the first three innings. Haley Tinney singled a run for Cairn in the bottom frame, but the Highlanders managed only two hits over five innings to drop the contest by a final score of 1-7 and remain at 7-7 for the year.
The Highlanders will host Keystone College this Saturday in a CSAC doubleheader beginning at 1:00 PM.
