MIDDLETOWN, PA – Baseball split with #14 Penn St. Harrisburg on Saturday, winning their first game against a ranked opponent in program history, and evening their conference record at 1-1 after the Highlanders' first weekend of United East competition.
GAME ONE
Junior catcher
Zach Bauers (Cooper City, FL / Cooper City) got the Highlanders off with a two-run first inning, scoring seniors
Dylan Jackson (Levittown, PA / Chestnut Hill College) and
Will Wikner (Gaithersburg, MD / Shenandoah University). Cairn (12-7 / 1-1 UNITED EAST) added another in the third as Wikner scored from Bauers reaching on an error.
The Nittany Lions took the lead in the fourth on four hits and an error, including two-straight singles, ahead 4-3. Cairn showed some fight, going ahead by one in the sixth on an error and RBI groundout by senior designated hitter
Tyler Harris (Oxford, PA / Oxford Area). Penn St. Harrisburg (16-4-1 / 3-1 UNITED EAST) tied the game I the seventh before senior first baseman
Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) took the lead with an RBI double, scoring Wikner in the top of the ninth. The Nittany Lions would begin the bottom of the ninth with a walk and hit by pitch to put the winning run on base, walking the Highlanders off on a single up the middle, 7-6.
Wikner, Warr, Bauers, and sophomore second baseman
Andrew Holt (Sunrise, FL / New College of Florida) each had two hits in the game, Bauers with two RBI. Sophomore ace
Mikey Gutierrez (Cooper City, FL / St. Thomas Aquinas) went six innings for a no-decision with a single earned run (five unearned) and four strikeouts.
GAME TWO
Game two had Harrisburg taking the first shot at the lead, putting up three in the first inning on four hits and doubling the lead in the fourth, 6-0, on a double and two more hits. Cairn finally got on the board in the sixth as Jackson led off with a double to right. Bauers singled through the left side to put two on as Holt drove them in with a triple. Junior third baseman
Ben Gagnon (Bethlehem, PA / Northampton CC) scored Holt on a single to left center, cutting the lead in half, 6-3.
The Nittany Lions got one back in the bottom half of the sixth on a double steal with first and third. Gagnon helped cut the lead to two with a two RBI single in the eighth, scoring Holt and Warr. Harrisburg would add a solo home run in the bottom half with the Highlanders facing a three-run deficit heading to the ninth.
Harris led off the ninth with a solo shot, his second of the year. Freshman outfielder
Stephen Persiani (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA / Capistrano Valley Christian) beat out an infield single, advancing as Jackson singled as well.
Tyler Warr came up big with a three-run home run to take a 9-8 lead with one out, his eighth on the year. Junior reliever
Greg Jessup (Tyler, TX / McKinney Christian) slammed the door, picking up the win in 3.2 relief innings with seven strikeouts while surrendering only a single run and two hits.
Gagnon paced the offense in game two with three hits and as many RBI. Holt and Jackson each added two hit, Holt with a double and triple. Warr and Harris each had a single hit, both home runs and meaningful ones. Bauers and Persiani rounded out the 11 Highlander hits on the afternoon.
Cairn goes up against their third-straight Top 25 team on Tuesday, hosting the #8 Seagulls of Salisbury University in Langhorne at 3:30 p.m.
