The Heartland softball team had a successful beginning to the week, as the Hawks defeated Lewis & Clark in both games of a home doubleheader on Tuesday before picking up two more victories over Morton College at The Corn Crib on Wednesday. The Hawks improve to 12-22 overall and 5-11 in conference play on the season.
 
Game 1
The Hawks welcomed Lewis & Clark to The Corn Crib for a pair of games, with the home team walking it off in the seventh inning in a 3-2 win over the Trailblazers. The first run of the contest came in the fourth frame, as the Trailblazers took a 1-0 advantage. Heartland responded with two tallies in the bottom-half, as RBI doubles by Autumn Lage and Raeghan Morefield made it 2-1. Lewis & Clark would tie the game in the fifth before Ellie Downing laced the game-winning hit to left field with the bases loaded to give the Hawks a walk-off victory. Morgan Malone pitched strong in relief to pick-up the win, throwing 2.2 innings and allowing no runs on 3 hits.
 
Game 2
Game two was much different for Heartland offensively, as the Hawks rallied for 11 hits en route to a 10-2 win in five innings. Two-run bombs by Grace Wyman and Morefield gave the Hawks a 4-0 advantage, and they never looked back. Run-scoring hits by Lilly Mucha, Danielle Bogle and Bella Moser in the third made it 8-2 in favor of Heartland. Moser would drive-in two more runs in the following inning as the Hawks made it 10-2. Amber Teimeyer tossed a complete game for the Hawks, yielding 2 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 7.
 
Game 3
On Wednesday, the Hawks returned to The Corn Crib for a twin-bill with Morton College. Behind a complete-game shutout performance by Malone, the Hawks came away with a 5-0 win over the Panthers in game one. Malone allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks in seven innings, and also struck-out 7 in the win. Heartland opened the scoring with three runs in the first, as Wyman and Downing scored on a Panther error before Lage drove-in Wyman with a run-scoring double. A sacrifice fly by Morefield and a RBI single by Mya Robinson in the sixth made it 5-0.
 
Game 4
In a back-and-forth contest, Heartland escaped a late Morton College rally with an 8-7 win over the Panthers in Wednesday's finale. After the Panthers took a 5-4 lead in the fifth, the Hawks scored four runs in the sixth frame to retake the lead at 8-5. Robinson and Lage supplied run-scoring knocks for the Hawks in the inning. The Panthers would narrow the deficit with two runs in the seventh, but Teimeyer was able to evade a jam to secure the victory. Robinson and Lage both finished with three-hit performances for the Hawks in the win.

Heartland returns to action at Danville Area Community College at 1 pm Friday for a doubleheader.