SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. – After totaling nine hits in their first two games, the Harper College baseball team exploded for 14 hits on their way to their first victory of the season, a 11-2 romp of South Suburban College.
 
Scott Plaza (Arlington Heights, Ill., Prospect) (1-1) went the distance for the Hawks as the right-hander scattered 11 hits.
 
Harper (1-2) jumped on top right away with two runs in the top of the first.  Mark Sarti (Palatine, Ill., Palatine) doubled on the very first pitch of the game and advanced to third on a Nick Spagnola (Algonquin, Ill., Dundee-Crown) single. Dan Duran (Skokie, Ill., Niles West) then plated both runners with a two-run double.
 
After the Bulldogs pushed across a run in the bottom half of the first, the Hawks played a little small ball to get that tally back.  Kevin Robinson (Schaumburg, Ill., Conant) led off with a single and moved all the way up to third on a Brett Sklena (Skokie, Ill., Niles North) sacrifice bunt.  Sarti made it 3-1 with a RBI groundout.
 
Connor McHugh (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Schaumburg) increased the visitors' lead to 5-1 with a two-run single in the third inning to score Duran and Andrew Skinner (Lyons, Ill., St. Joseph).
 
Up 6-2 in the eighth inning, Harper put the game out of reach with a four-run inning.  Nickolas Johnson (Chicago, Ill., Simeon), McHugh and Sklena all had run-scoring hits for the Hawks.
 
The team will play their first home game on Saturday against Illinois Valley Community College.  The double-header will feature two seven-inning games beginning at noon.