FLEMINGTON, NJ — The Houghton Highlanders opened the 2022 campaign on Saturday afternoon, splitting with the host Cairn University Highlanders, picking up a 4-1 victory in the first game, and falling in the second, 5-7.
GAME VITALS
Game 1 Score: Houghton – 4 | Cairn – 1
Game 2 Score: Houghton – 5 | Cairn – 7
Records: Houghton: 1-1 | Cairn: 1-2
Venue: Diamond Nation, Flemington, NJ | Attendance: 80/78
Game 1: Hunter Kendall tossed four scoreless innings to earn the win, and
Ryan Newtown allowed only one run over the final three innings to earn the save. Kendall allowed only two hits and two walks, while striking out six, before giving way to Newtown, who gave up four hits and one walk, picking up four strikeouts.
Houghton opened the scoring in the first after an
Ethan Cetton infield single scored
Jason Kauffeldt.
The Purple & Gold then tacked on two more in the fourth on a two-RBI single from
Dylan Boprey, and a fourth run in the sixth after
Jose Morales singled and
Sebastian Rodriguez scored on a throwing error.
Cairn threatened in the sixth, scoring their lone run on a single to left by Josh Melchior, but left the bases loaded.
Game 2: Houghton came out of the gates hot, scored four two-out runs in the first after
Phil Schurr cleared the bases with his first collegiate hit and Rodriguez followed with an RBI single.
Cairn answered with a run in the bottom half before Boprey brought home Kauffeldt with a base hit in the top of the second, putting Houghton up, 5-1.
Cairn scored again in the bottom of the second, then plated two more in the third, to pull within a run, 5-4.
Houghton maintained their one-run advantage over the next two innings, but failed to separate, before Cairn finally got to reliever
Will Tormey, plating three runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth.
Zach Parr led off the top of the seventh with deep ground-rule double to left-center, but Houghton could not push across another run.
KEY STATS:
>> Boprey picked up three hits and three RBI on the day, while Parr added two hits.
>>
Jason Kauffeldt posted only one hit—a ground rule double to left—but walked four times and stole two bases.
COACH'S CORNER:
"For the most part, I am quite pleased with how we played today. All four of our pitchers threw aggressively, pounded the zone and kept the running game in check.
"Obviously it was disappointing to see that second game slip away, but there are a lot of valuable things we learned about ourselves today.
"We have talked a lot this preseason about our keys to victory—limiting free bases on walks, errors and mental mistakes—and playing aggressively, and adding extra bases wherever we can. When we did those things we had a lot of success. We made a couple of mistakes that hurt, but give a lot of credit to Cairn—when we left pitches up, they hit them hard. They were an excellent opponent and provided the competition we needed to start our year.
"We're definitely looking forward to some warmer weather, and hopefully continued to build on what we started." – Head Coach
Brian Reitnour
UP NEXT:
The Highlanders continue south to Ft. Pierce, Florida where they will play five games over the next week. Their first game is slated for Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., when they will take on the Elizabethtown College Blue Jays.
