LA PLUME, Pa. – The No. 3 seed Cairn University baseball team won, 13-12, in extra innings against No. 4 seed Saint Elizabeth University in round two of the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Tournament on Friday afternoon. With the win, Cairn advances to the CSAC Semifinals tomorrow, and Saint Elizabeth is eliminated.
 
Saint Elizabeth (14-28) got on the board first with a run in the first inning, before Cairn (22-20) scored five runs over the second and third frames to take a 5-1 lead. SEU cut the deficit to two (6-4) after five innings of play, but senior Sam Spadea (Yardley, PA / Pennsbury) got those runs back with a two-run homer to increase the advantage to 8-4. The Eagles did not go away, plating three runs over the next two innings and trailed 8-7 heading into the bottom of the eighth, before Spadea went big fly again, followed up by an RBI-fielder's choice by sophomore Jared Sucro (Kamloops, BC / St. Ann's Academy) and an RBI-knock by senior Tyler Fox (Boyertown, PA / West-Mont Christian Academy) to increase the Cairn lead to 11-7 heading into the final frame. Down to their last at-bats, SEU went on a tear, plating four runs in the top of the ninth to knot the game up at 11-all, and sent the game to extra innings.
 
After neither team scored in the 10^th inning, SEU claimed their first lead since they led 1-0 in the first inning off of a one-out RBI-single to take a 12-11 advantage. In the bottom half, junior Jake Meisel (Newark, DE / Rosemont College) drew a leadoff walk, and senior Brooks Price (Nashville, TN / Franklin Road Academy) pinch ran for Meisel. Freshman Zach Bauers (Cooper City, FL / Cooper City) moved Price into scoring position with a groundout, before Spadea was intentionally walked to put runners at first and second. Sophomore Dylan Jackson (Levittown, PA / Chestnut Hill College) worked another free pass to load the bases with one out, bringing classmate Tyler Warr (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) to the plate. SEU attempted to work Warr on the inside part of the plate, and came too far inside as a fastball got past the catcher and went to the backstop. Price scored the game-tying run on the wild pitch, and the SEU defense froze on the play, believing the pitch to have hit Warr on the elbow guard, which would have resulted in a dead ball. Realizing the confusion between the Eagles and the umpires, senior Joe Greenwood (Wall, NJ / Calvary Academy), who was pinch running for Spadea, did not stop running and scored what turned out to be the game-winning run from second base on a wild pitch. SEU immediately appealed the play, but the result was upheld, sealing the win for Cairn and another CSAC Semifinal appearance for the Highlanders.
 
Fox led the Highlander offense with a five-for-six day at the plate, followed by Spadea with three hits (including two homers) and a team-high four RBIs. With those two homers, Spadea officially set the new single-season program record for home runs with 11, breaking 2022 graduate Brian Amantia Jr's record set just last year. Spadea also got the win on the mound in relief, moving to 5-1 on the year after hurling the final three innings and striking out three. Sophomore Ronaldhino Alcin (Miami, FL / North Miami Beach) got the start on the bump, going seven innings, scattering 11 hits, five runs and striking out nine Eagles. Graduate Student Bryan Stimpson (Monroeville, NJ / Cornell University) worked the Highlanders out of a no-out jam in the seventh inning, allowing no runs and maintaining the lead for Cairn.
 
As mentioned, Cairn advances to the conference semifinals for the fourth consecutive season, and will meet the loser of today's matchup between top-seeded Keystone College and No. 2 seed Wilson College tomorrow in La Plume at 11 a.m.