TRENTON, NJ – The Cairn University Baseball team hosted Lancaster Bible College under the lights at Trenton Thunder Ballpark across the river in New Jersey, Friday night, where they defeated the Chargers 9-1.
 
Cairn (24-14 / 14-4 UNITED EAST SKYE DIVISION) scored first in opening frame as junior right fielder Dylan Jackson (Levittown, PA / Chestnut Hill College) worked a walk followed by classmate Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) who doubled to the right center gap, scoring Jackson. In the third, fifth year designated hitter Tyler Fox (Boyertown, PA / West-Mont Christian Academy) singled to open things up, moving over on a ground out and Warr picking up his second RBI with a single up the middle.
 
The Highlanders scratched across another in the fourth as fifth year second baseman Joe Greenwood (Wall, NJ / Calvary Academy) doubled down the left field line, reaching second on a friendly bounce off the wall. Classmate Sam Spadea (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury) scored him on a single to left. The offense really got rolling starting in the fifth with Jackson & Warr singling to open the inning, both advancing into scoring position on the throw. Greenwood got the ball to the right side to score Jackson and advance Warr to third. Warr scored on Spadea's sacrifice fly, Cairn ahead 5-0.
 
Lancaster Bible (19-14-1 / 7-7-1 UNITED EAST SKYE DIVISION) scored their only run of the night in the sixth, spurred by an error to lead off the inning. Cairn got the run right back and more in the bottom half as freshman shortstop Nathan Schurga (Wilmington, DE / Conrad Schools of Science) walked followed by a single from Fox. Both runners would be off on the next pitch, forcing the Chargers to throw the ball away and score Schurga. Freshman centerfielder Zachary Johnson (Hawaii Kai, HI / TCS Post Grad) single through the left side, putting runners on the corners. Johnson got into a rundown on the next pitch as Fox made it home safely putting the Highlanders up 7-1.
 
Greenwood had another double to open the seventh, stealing third and scoring as Spadea grounded out. Junior left fielder Will Wikner (Gaitherburg, MD / Shenandoah University) would make it all the way around the bases on his double down the left field line as an errant throw kept him running to give Cairn a 9-1 lead.
 
Freshman righty Mikey Gutierrez (Cooper City, FL / St. Thomas Aquinas) got the start, recording his seventh win of the season, the most in a single season in program history, passing former Highlander pitcher/shortstop Cam Culver ('23) who had six wins during the 2022 season. Gutierrez threw 7.0 innings with no earned and eight strikeouts. Senior pitcher Eli Schooley (Horseheads, NY / Horseheads) threw a scoreless inning in the eight before junior righty Mason Graybill (New Holland, PA / Garden Spot) made his season debut, striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning.
 
Warr paced the offense with four hits and a pair of RBI. Greenwood had three hits, two of which were doubles, and two runs scored. Fox added two hits and a pair of runs to his line. Johnson, Jackson, Bauers, Spadea, Wikner, and Schurga rounded out the hits for the Highlanders, Spadea adding 3 RBI to his total.
 
Cairn Baseball will close the regular season on Wednesday as they head up to the Big Apple to face New York University at 5 p.m.