LA PLUME, PA - The Cairn University Baseball team advanced to the 2024 United East Baseball Divisional Championship series after coming back from a loss Friday to sweep Saturday and advance to their first championship series since 2019.
 
FRIDAY
The No. 2 seeded Highlanders opened up the 2024 United East Baseball Championship – Divisional Round on Friday as they took on No. 3 Wilson at the neutral site of Keystone College. Wilson (20-17 / 13-5 SKYE DIVISION) shutout the Highlanders, holding the Cairn (26-17 / 14-2 SKYE DIVISION) lineup to two hits as they fell to the elimination bracket with an early start on Saturday.
 
SATURDAY
The first elimination game of the day was between the Highlanders and No. 4 Rosemont College (11-28 / 8-10 SKYE DIVISION). Both squads fought to a scoreless matchup until the fourth when junior first baseman Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) led off the frame with a single though the right side. Sophomore catcher Zach Bauers (Cooper City, FL / Cooper City) followed him with a walk as both were bunted into scoring position by fifth year second baseman Joe Greenwood (Wall, NJ / Calvary Academy). Classmate Sam Spadea (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury) put the ball in the air to centerfield and scored Warr on a sacrifice fly for the first run of the contest.
 
Cairn added another in the fifth as freshman shortstop Nathan Schurga (Wilmington, DE / Conrad Schools of Science) walked to lead off the inning, moving to second as junior designated hitter Tyler Harris (Oxford, PA / Oxford Area) singled and fellow Tyler, fifth year outfielder Tyler Fox (Boyertown, PA / West-Mont Christian) singled down the left field line to score Schurga.
 
Rosemont answered with a pair in the seventh to tie the game at 2-2 with three-straight hits before Bauers got to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and hit a moon shot over the left field fence for a go-ahead home run. Sophomore righty Greg Jessup (Tyler, TX / McKinney Christian) locked down the win, throwing three scoreless innings in relief and shutting the door in the ninth for the win.
 
Fox, Warr, Harris, and Spadea each had a pair of hits in the match up, Bauers having the crucial piece of hitting as the game-winning home run.
 
In game two, the Highlanders did battle with No. 3 Wilson Phoenix for the second time in as many days. Wilson struck first once again with an unearned run in the first, adding two more in the top of the second to go ahead 3-0. Cairn would put up a crooked number of five in the bottom half, started by a one-out single from junior left fielder Will Wiker (Gaithersburg, MD / Shenandoah), center fielder Zachary Johnson (Hawaii Kai, HI / TCS Post Grad) getting hit by a pitch, and Harris working a walk to load the bases. Schurga put the ball in play, reaching on an error which produced the Highlanders' first two runs. Fox walked to load the bases back up before Warr doubled to right center, clearing the bases and putting Cairn ahead 5-3.
 
In the fourth, Warr walked, Bauers singled, and Spadea was plunked to load the bases with one out once again. Greenwood walked with the bases loaded and Wikner reached on a fielder's choice as Cairn pushed ahead 7-3. Wilson wouldn't lose their season without an answer, scratching across four runs on five hits and an error to tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth. The Highlanders took the lead right back in the bottom half, loading the bases with a walk and two hit by pitches for Fox to score Johnson with a single to left.
 
Jessup made his second relief appearance of the day, this time throwing 3.2 innings scoreless for the win. Jessup moved to 6-0 on the season, the most wins without a loss in a season since Dom Maglione went 5-0 in 2022. Wikner led the way with two hits in game two as Warr recorded 3 RBI. Johnson set the record for most times hit by a pitch in a single game since Caleb Moore was hit four times in each game against Curry College in a doubleheader on March 11, 2014.
 
The Highlanders improve to 26-17 on the season, the most single-season wins in program history, surpassing the previous record of 25 wins in 2022.
 
Cairn Baseball will advance to the Divisional Championship, their first championship appearance since 2019, which is currently schedule for Sunday, May 5 at 11 a.m. pending weather and field conditions.