LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University baseball team lost, 15-11, at home against non-conference adversary Rutgers-Newark at home inside the Stillman Complex on Thursday evening.
Rutgers Newark (15-4, 0-0 NJAC) plated four runs in the opening frame of the contest, before Cairn (6-12, 1-2 CSAC) got on the board via a sacrifice fly by senior
Sam Spadea (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury) in the third inning. The Highlanders cut the deficit to one (6-5) after scoring four runs over two innings in the fourth and fifth frames. The Scarlet Raiders raised their lead to 9-5 after a three-run sixth inning. Cairn responded in the bottom half, crossing four runners, capped off by back-to-back RBI knocks by sophomores
Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) and
Jared Sucro (Kamloops, BC / St. Ann's Academy). Rutgers-Newark reclaimed the lead in the top of the seventh inning (10-9), before Cairn had a resounding answer in the bottom half, via a two-out, two-RBI triple into the right-center field gap by sophomore
Dylan Jackson (Levittown, PA / Chestnut Hill College).
The Highlanders entered the top of the ninth inning with an 11-10 lead, however, three Cairn errors in the frame gave the Scarlet Raiders the opportunity they needed, as they capitalized with five runs in the inning to reclaim a decisive advantage. Rutgers Newark shut the door with a scoreless bottom half of the ninth to seal the victory.
Warr led Cairn's offensive output with a team-high three hits, followed by Jackson with a pair of hits and a team-high three RBIs and senior
Jake Arnoldy (West Grove, PA / Wilmington Christian) with a pair of base knocks. Cairn got a significant lift from its bullpen, as freshmen
Nick Benson (Philadelphia, PA / Father Judge) and
Evan Hughes (Levittown, PA / Neshaminy), junior
Ethan Fineman (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy), and graduate students
Jarrett Johnson (Edison, NJ / Timothy Christian) and
Bryan Stimpson (Monroeville, NJ / Cornell University) combined for 5.2 innings of relief, allowing just five hits and four earned runs total.
The Highlanders will be back on the diamond on Tuesday, April 4 when they welcome Lancaster Bible College to Langhorne for a non-conference tilt inside the Stillman Complex at 3:30 p.m.
