—Photo courtesy of Iowa Central Athletics iowa central's Kennedy palmer looks to catch a fly ball on Wednesday in Alabama against Murray State.

OXFORD, Ala. — The 10th-ranked Iowa Central softball squad ran into a buzzsaw in the second round of the NJCAA World Series.

After a 2-1 upset win over No. 7 Pima on Monday, the Tritons had a showdown with second-rated Murray State on Wednesday.

The Tritons dropped a 9-1 decision, putting them in a do-or-die contest late on Wednesday night against Rock Valley.

The Tritons trailed 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh at press time for The Messenger.

Iowa Central had to face one of the top junior college pitchers in Isabella Hardeman (29-0). Hardeman allowed three hits in four-plus innings. She gave up one earned run and struck out four batters.

Murray State held a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, where it scored six times to end the contest.

Kennedy Palmer, Reagan Enright and Avery McKinney had the hits for the Tritons. Palmer delivered an RBI.

Jayda Long (22-5) came in as relief in the third inning and suffered the loss.