Baseball: Eight Hawks earn All-GLVC honors

Ryan Porter and Mark Sappington headline a group of eight Rockhurst players selected to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division baseball teams, the league office announced in a ceremony Wednesday night preceding this weekend’s GLVC Tournament.

Porter and Sappington were named first-team selections along with Scott Bradbury, Patrick Chandler and T.J. Dailey. Mark Himmelberg, Josh Tols and Tyler Gans earned second-team honors for the Hawks. Porter, Chandler and Himmelberg are repeat All-GLVC honorees.

Porter, a senior first baseman, led the Hawks in RBIs (49), slugging percentage (.571), total bases (97), doubles (16) and home runs (6). Porter is the conference leader in RBIs, and ranks second in doubles and fourth in total bases in the conference.

Sappington, a junior right-hander, leads the RU pitching staff with an 8-3 record and a 1.73 earned run average. Sappington’s ERA ranks third among all GLVC pitchers and his 84 strikeouts tops the conference leaders.

Bradbury, a senior third baseman, leads the Hawks with 69 hits and a .381 batting average. Bradbury ranks third in hits and fourth in batting average in the GLVC.

Chandler, a junior right fielder, ranks fifth among GLVC batters with a .381 batting average. Chandler leads the Hawks with 11 stolen bases and is tied with Bradbury with a team-high 33 runs scored.

Dailey, a senior catcher, is one of the top defensive catchers in the GLVC. He has a .991 fielding average while starting 43 of 45 games behind the plate. He also is third on the team with 13 extra-base hits.

Himmelberg, a senior pitcher, enters the postseason with a 6-2 record and 2.88 ERA. Himmelberg struck out 47 hitters in 56.1 innings with three complete games and one shutout.

Tols, a junior pitcher, leads the Hawks with four complete games and two shutouts. Tols posted a 6-2 record with three saves, 66 strikeouts and a 3.36 ERA.

Gans, a sophomore second baseman, leads the Hawks with 22 walks and a .470 on-base percentage. He is batting .355 on the season and has crossed the plate 33 times.

The Hawks begin play in the double-elimination GLVC Tournament on Thursday at 11 a.m. against Quincy at Bosse Field in Evansville, Ind.