Sammy Lizarraga tossed a five-hit shutout Saturday afternoon as the eighth-ranked Kennedy Cougars topped Xavier, 4-0, in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Herkelman Field.

Kennedy won the second game, 10-3.

Lizarraga struck out seven batters and walked two in the shutout. He threw 104 pitches, including 75 for strikes.

Zach Daniels went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for Kennedy. Bryce Church was 2-for-3 with two doubles.

Bryce Schulte was 2-for-4 for the Saints in the opener. Bryce Charipar allowed only one earned run in five innings for Xavier, but was the hard-luck loser.

Daniels went 3-for-4 for the Cougars in the second game. Mitch Gaffey, Tyler Dralle, Jacob Henry and Jackson Behn had two hits for Kennedy. Dralle drove in three runs. Henry and Kyle Brewer had two RBIs. Lizarraga scored three times.

Schulte had two more hits for the Saints in the second game. Xavier committed seven errors in the ballgame.

Saturday's doubleheader was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., but the start was delayed several hours due to rain and wet grounds. Kennedy was scheduled to play Solon Saturday night, but that game was cancelled.

The sweep lifted Kennedy to 25-9 overall and 16-8 in the conference. Xavier fell to 16-20 overall and 11-15 in the league.

GAME 1

Xavier     000 000 0 - 0 5 2
Kennedy    010 012 x - 4 7 3

W - Lizarraga. L - Charipar.

GAME 2

Xavier     300 000 0 - 3 4 7
Kennedy    302 023 x - 10 13 0

W - Neuhaus. L - Callahan.