CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – The No. 3 seed Cairn University baseball team lost, 12-5, on the road against No. 2 seed Wilson College in round one of the double-elimination Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Championship tournament at Henninger Field on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Cairn (21-20) jumped out to an early lead after throwing up a four-spot in the first inning, chasing Wilson (33-8) starting pitcher Jacob Whittington out of the game after a pair of two-run home runs by junior Jake Meisel (Newark, DE / Rosemont College) and senior Sam Spadea (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury). The Phoenix scored in the bottom half of the first, before Cairn got the run back via an RBI-single by freshman Zach Bauers (Cooper City, FL / Cooper City). The Highlanders maintained a four-run lead (5-1) until the bottom of the fourth inning, where the Phoenix got two runs back (5-3). Wilson took their first lead of the contest after a three-run fifth inning (6-5) that included four Phoenix hits. The Phoenix did not allow a Highlander run for the rest of the contest, and scored in each of the last five innings.
 
Meisel paced the Cairn offense with a pair of base knocks, including the homer, to go along with a pair of RBIs. Spadea matched Meisel with his two-run homer, while classmate Tyler Fox (Boyertown, PA / West-Mont Christian Academy) scored a team-high two runs. Sophomore Dylan Jackson (Levittown, PA / Chestnut Hill College) gave Cairn an admirable 4.2 innings starting on the bump, scattering nine hits and six runs (five earned).
 
With the loss, Cairn will now face No. 4 seed Saint Elizabeth University (who lost by a score of 8-7 at top-seeded Keystone College this afternoon) in La Plume on Friday, May 12 at 11 a.m. in round two of the double-elimination conference tournament, with the loser of that matchup being eliminated. The remainder of the conference championship tournament games will be hosted by top-seeded Keystone College.