MYRTLE BEACH, SC – After a rainy Monday which cost the Highlanders getting to play a pair of games, Cairn Baseball was back on the field Tuesday night, facing Wilmington College (OH) on Crosley Field at the Ripken Experience. Pitching and home runs dominated the show Cairn as they defeated the Quakers 12-1.
 
With a scoreless first, senior right fielder Dylan Jackson (Levittown, PA / Chestnut Hill College) led off the second with a double to right as classmate Tyler Harris (Oxford, PA / Oxford Area) homered to centerfield to put Cairn (4-1 / UNITED EAST) ahead early.
 
The Quakers drove in a run in the top of the fourth on a walk and double to answer back. The Highlanders would have their say in the bottom half as Jackson led off with another double to the same spot and Harris worked a walk. Junior third baseman Ben Gagnon (Bethlehem, PA / Northampton CC) found no man's land with a bunt, reaching on a single to load the bases for freshman second baseman Gustavo Villegas (Plantation, FL / Plantation) who sent a shot down the left field line for a grand slam. With the Highlanders now up 6-1, they would continue piling on runs as freshman left fielder Josh Smeltzer, Jr. (Reading, PA / Muhlenberg) walked and scored on a single by senior first baseman Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy). Harris came up again, driving in two runs on a single up the middle as Gagnon closed out that inning's scoring with an RBI single to center, now ahead 10-1.
 
Warr sent a line drive over the centerfield fence with senior center fielder Will Wikner (Gaithersburg, MD / Shenandoah University) on base to finish off the lead as the Highlanders would go quiet for the rest of the game.
 
Senior lefty Brett Bottinger (Plymouth Meeting, PA / Chestnut Hill College) managed the Wilmington (3-3 / OAC) offense, pitching five innings of one-run baseball, scattering four hits and a pair of strikeouts. Junior relievers Nick Benson (Philadelphia, PA / Father Judge), Greg Jessup (Tyler, TX / McKinney Christian) and seniors Connor Ferguson (Laguna Niguel, CA / Capistrano Valley Christian School) and Mason Graybill (New Holland, PA / Garden Spot) each made scoreless appearances in short relief to give Bottinger his second win in as many starts and the Highlanders their fourth-straight win.
 
Warr and Gagnon each had three hits, Warr with a homer and 3 RBI, while Jackson went 2-4, Harris 2-3 with a homer and 4 RBI, as well as Villegas at 2-4 with a grand slam for 4 RBI.
 
The Highlanders have added Lesley University and New Jersey City University to the Myrtle Beach slate for Wednesday, first pitches scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.