MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - No. 14/16 Penn State Harrisburg split a hotly-contested conference doubleheader with United East foe Cairn on Saturday afternoon, March 29. The Lions walked off a 7-6 come-from-behind victory in the opener before falling in the final frame of a 9-8 setback in the nightcap.

Alexander Ruiz came through with the game-winning, two-out RBI single that plated Braeden Piotrowski from third base in the bottom of the ninth to secure a game-one victory. Brendan Henn went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, while Drew Sassaman was 3-for-4 with a stolen base. Fisher Druck was allowed just two earned runs on the bump with seven strikeouts, while reliever Caiden Ertter got the win. With the victory, head coach Ryan Bown reached the 300-win mark for his career.

The Highlanders (11-7, 0-1 United East) struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the first and tacked on another of the unearned variety in the third. The Lions (16-3-1, 3-0 United East) got things going in the fourth and took an advantage of a two-out error to score four unearned runs of their own and pull ahead for the first time, with Blaine Waltimyer, Henn and Demetre Koutras III all driving in runs during the stanza.

Cairn retook the lead in the sixth when a Penn State Harrisburg error led to two more unearned runs for the visitors but the Lions pulled even in the bottom of the seventh when Carlos Irizarry drove in Henn with a sacrifice fly to center field.

A pair of doubles in the top of the ninth allowed the Highlanders to reclaim the advantage but a lead-off walk by Koutras and a Matthew Johansen hit by pitch put the home team in business in the bottom half. Irizarry's sac bunt moved both into scoring position and Moises Gonzalez tied it up with a sac fly to right field before Ruiz's softly hit infield single up the middle sealed the comeback win.

The second outing was a different story, with Penn State Harrisburg (16-4-1, 3-1 United East) unable to hold an early six-run advantage. Waltimyer, Ruiz and Coy Baker all had multi-hit games, while Koutras drove in a team-high two runs.

The Lions used four hits to score three runs in the bottom of the first and scored three more in the fourth to push the advantage to six. Cairn (12-7, 1-1 United East) didn't record its first hit until the fifth inning but never went away, eventually cutting the deficit in half with a three-run top of the sixth.

The home team tacked on another in the bottom half when Waltimyer scored on a double steal but the Highlanders got two back in the top of the eighth. Irizarry appeared to give the Lions some insurance with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth but Cairn used four hits, including the go-ahead three-run home run, to take its first lead of the game in the top of the ninth. Baker doubled to move into scoring position with two outs in the bottom half but Penn State Harrisburg was unable to push the tying run across.

NOTABLES
- The game one victory was the 300th in the career of Penn State Harrisburg head coach Ryan Bown.
- Henn went 3-for-5 with two RBIS and a run scored in the opener.
- Sassaman finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base in the first contest.
- Koutras had a multi-hit game one with two walks, an RBI and a run scored. He also had two hits and drove in a pair in the nightcap.
- In the opener, Druck went six innings and allowed just two earned runs while striking out seven batters.
- Ertter earned the win after throwing the game's final 1.2 frames.
- Waltimyer was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in game two.
- Baker went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored in the second contest.
- Irizarry's game-two home run was his team-leading fourth of the spring.

WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions close out the weekend by hosting No. 11/11 Rowan on Sunday afternoon.