PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College softball team squared off with N4C opponent Triton College on Tuesday afternoon. The Hawks came up a bit short in both contests, losing 10-2 and 13-7.

Harper (1-15, 0-11 N4C) trailed 8-0 through 5 ½ innings before its offense came to life.  Emily Butler (Prospect Heights, Ill./Hersey) had a two-out RBI single that scored Jordan Dallmann (Roselle, Ill. /Lake Park), and pitcher Isabelle McGuinnis (Arlington Heights, Ill. /Hersey) plated Butler with a triple of her own to make the score 8-2. The Trojans (18-16, 5-6 N4C) scored two insurance runs on a Taylor Mathews double in the seventh inning.

McGunnis went the distance in the circle for the Hawks. She yielded nine earned runs on 11 hits and struck out five. Anna Ramos earned the victory for the Trojans as she gave up just two runs on six hits and struck out six over seven frames.

Game two appeared it would go the same way as game one as Triton scored four runs in the top of the first inning following a crucial two-out error. However, the Harper offense had big first and second innings. After back-to-back base hits from Sandra Portogallo (Elk Grove Village, Ill. /Conant) and Dallmann, Nicole Soderholm (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) doubled to the wall in left field, scoring both runners to cut the deficit in half.

In the bottom of the second, the Hawks scored four runs, all after two outs. Portogallo's two-run single tied the score at 4-4, and Dallmann's RBI single gave the team its first lead of the game. Soderholm knocked in Dallmann to give the hosts a 6-4 advantage.

The Trojans scored once in the third and twice in the fourth to regain the lead. Reliever Kylie Broadway came in relief with two outs in the second inning and shut down the Hawks with scoreless frames in the third-sixth innings. Triton added another run in the sixth and with the sun setting in the seventh, the Trojans scored five runs on six hits to take a 13-6 lead.  

Kelsey Hughes (Hanover Park, Ill. /Schaumburg) gave Harper its final run with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Only seven of the 13 runs McGuinnis surrendered in the circle for the Hawks were earned as the Hawks committed five errors. Broadway pitched 5 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win.

The Hawks travel to Rock Valley College (31-8, 10-1 N4C) on Thursday to take on the Golden Eagles, the nation's top-ranked team at the NJCAA Div. III level. First pitch of game one is set for 3 PM.