Baseball: Hawks split conference openers

Junior right-hander Mark Sappington posted his third win of the season to lead Rockhurst to an 8-1 win over Wisconsin-Parkside in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday at RU's Loyola Park. Sappington struck out nine hitters and allowed six hits in eight innings. He leads the team with a 1.09 ERA and 38 strikeouts.

Ryan Porter led the Hawks with three hit and four RBIs. The senior first baseman hit a two-run home run in the third and added a run-scoring single in the fifth. Jordan Stull also collected three hits. Tyler Gans and T.J. Dailey each finished with two hits. Parkside came back to win the second game, 9-2. Anthony Davis paced the Hawks with two hits. Starting pitcher Nick Lichtenberger (1-2) took the loss.

On Saturday, Rockhurst split a doubleheader at home with Lewis. The Hawks won the first game, 7-6, on a walk-off single by Scott Bradbury in the ninth inning. Porter and Dailey hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning. Stull and Bradbury combined for five hits. Josh Samuelson pitched the final two innings to get the win. Parkside blanked the Hawks, 5-0, in the second game. Gans went 3-for-3 at the plate.

The Hawks, 9-6 and 2-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, return to conference play Saturday at Indianapolis.