Baseball: Hawks move into national rankings

Rockhurst moved into the national baseball rankings for the first time this season. The Hawks are ranked 24th in the latest Collegiate Baseball Division II poll.

A runner-up finish in the NCAA Midwest Regional, highlighted by a pair of wins over 19th-ranked Grand Valley State, vaulted Rockhurst into the national spotlight. The Hawks finished the season with a 35-19 record after posting five postseason victories in the GLVC Tournament and NCAA Midwest Regional.

Senior first baseman Ryan Porter, senior third baseman Scott Bradbury and senior pitcher Mark Sappington received several All-Region awards. Sophomore second baseman Derrick Jones, junior outfielder Brandon Tangney and Porter were named to the Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team

Porter was a first team selection to the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) first team and was named to the Midwest Region American Baseball Coaches (ABCA) Gold Glove Team. He earned All-Region second team recognition from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Daktronics, Inc. Porter led the team with seven home runs and 60 RBIs while posting a .353 batting average. He finished his four-year career with a .380 batting average, 37 home runs and 202 RBIs.

Bradbury received first team All-Region honors from the ABCA and Daktronics, and was a second team NCBWA All-Region honoree. Bradbury led the team with a .365 batting average while hitting five home runs and driving in 41 runs.

Sappington collected first team All-Region awards from the ABCA, Daktronics and the NCBWA. He led the Hawks with a 10-3 record, 1.78 ERA, five complete games and 101 strikeouts while throwing 96 innings. Sappington ranks 10th in strikeouts, 28th in ERA and hits allowed per nine innings (6.38), and 44th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.47) among Division II pitchers.