On a blustery day at Diamond Nation, the Highlanders used some serious offensive firepower to win the first of two games against the SEU Eagles, 16-9, before dropping the second game, 12-19.
Game one started out rather slowly, with Saint Elizabeth scoring one in the bottom of the first on a two-out single. Headed to the top of the third inning, the Highlanders started to make a serious impact at the plate. A
Joe Greenwood single scored
Jake Arnoldy to get the Highlanders on the board.
Caleb Edman then stepped to the plate and sent the ball deep into left field for a 3-run home run, his first of the season and the first of many homers hit by both the Highlanders and the Eagles over the course of the afternoon. The score stayed 4-1 until the top of the fifth inning, when Cairn's offense once again caught fire.
Ryan Clark started the fifth-inning scoring off with a three-run home run of his own, his first of the season. Four plate appearances later, Josh Melchior smacked a bases-clearing triple down the right field line, scoring three and widening the scoring differential to 10-1.
Joe Greenwood then singled to score Melchior, making the score 11-1 and bringing
Caleb Edman to the plate yet again. Edman sent another ball over the left field fence for his second homerun of the day, adding two more RBIs to his team-leading 5 RBIs total for the game. Sam Spadea then doubled to left center and then stole third, putting another runner in scoring position;
Tyler Fox took advantage and drove Spadea home with a double down the left field line. By the end of the inning, the Highlanders had scored 10 runs on nine hits, putting the game out of reach for the Eagles.
Saint Elizabeth did make a comeback push in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring seven runs and hitting a homerun of their own in the bottom of the seventh. However, the differential was just too great to overcome, and the Highlanders took Game One with a final score of 16-9.
Sophomore RHP
Jake Kraihanzel got the start in Game One and pitched well, giving up 6 hits, 5 walks, 2 earned runs, and struck out 6 in 5.0 innings.
Harrison Green pitched in relief and gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, 3 earned runs, and struck out 3 in 2.0 innings.
Game Two continued the wild offensive outings for both teams. Saint Elizabeth scored four runs in the bottom of first, but Cairn responded at the plate in the second.
Tyler Fox joined the home-run party with a 3-RBI shot to right field of his own, capping off an eight-run outburst for the Highlanders and making the score 8-4 in Cairn's favor. The Eagles hit another home run in the 3rd, drawing the score closer at 8-7. Cairn got one back to make it 9-7 in their half of the fourth, but the Eagles blew the game open with a 10-run fourth inning, including two home runs (one inside the park) and a 2 RBI triple. The Highlanders continued to grind away, but could never get closer than within 7 runs of the Eagles; the final score of Game Two was 19-12 in the Eagles favor.
Cairn was led offensively by
Tyler Fox in the loss with three hits and five RBIs; Fox also hit the Highlanders' lone home run of the game. Freshman
Elijah Schooley started on the mound and gave up five runs in 2.0 innings pitched.
The Highlanders are off for over a week before facing their next CSAC opponent, the Phoenix of Wilson College, on April 5th in Chambersburg. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12 PM.
