DUBUQUE - Sammy Lizarraga and Matt Berst socked home runs Monday as the eighth-ranked Kennedy Cougars nipped Dubuque Hempstead, 8-7, in eight innings in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader.

Hempstead took the second game, 7-6.

Bryce Church went 4-for-4 with two RBIs for Kennedy in the opener. Berst drove in three runs. Kyle Brewer was 3-for-4 with two runs. Lizarraga went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs. Zach Daniels scored twice.

Sawyer Neuhaus collected the victory in relief of Blake Hargens.

Kennedy took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning of the opener, but Hempstead scored twice to force extra innings. The Cougars responded with four runs in the top of the eighth, then withstood a three-run rally by Hempstead in the bottom of the eighth.

The split left Kennedy at 15-5 overall and 9-5 in the conference. Hempstead is 15-9 overall and 12-6 in the league.

GAME 1

Kennedy     100 002 14 - 8 13 1

Hempstead  101 000 23 - 7 10 1