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DES PLAINES, Ill. – After its best offensive output of the season a day earlier at Rock Valley, the Harper College baseball team had its toughest afternoon at the plate to date. The Hawks only recorded one hit in the contest and lost to a hot-hitting Oakton Community College team, 14-0.

Harper's lone hit came in the first inning, a single by Nick Kouzios (Crystal Lake, Ill. /Prairie Ridge). Kouzios also reached base on a walk in the seventh inning. Christian Poulsen (Schaumburg, Ill. /Schaumburg) was the only other hitter to reach base, doing so on a two-out error in the seventh as well.

Hawks (0-9) starting pitcher Nate Paprota (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) (0-1) labored through three innings and allowed nine earned runs, including three home runs. Clint O'neal and Travis Lindquist (Madison, Wis. /James Madison Memorial ) pitched in relief. O'Neal surrendered an earned run on three hits in two innings of work, and Lindquist yielded three runs in one frame. The Owls (11-6) were a combined 14-for-31 (.452) at the plate as a team. Jaime Rivera (1-0) pitched five scoreless innings and struck out four.

After nine straight road games to start the 2016 season, Harper will open its home schedule on Saturday, April 2 against N4C foe Triton College (10-8, 3-1 N4C). First pitch of game one will be at 12 PM on the campus of Harper College.