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Story Headlines
- The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team fell at Fort Hays State, 7-3, on Thursday evening at Larks Park in Hays, Kan.
- The Bearcats fall to 24-24 on the year and 19-18 in MIAA play. The Tigers improved to 21-26 overall and 15-21 in conference action.
- Kevin Handzlik went 3-for-4 on the day with an RBI and a triple.
- Northwest pitchers struck out seven batters and did not issue a walk the entire game.

Key Northwest Statistics
- Northwest got two runs in the second and one in the sixth. The Bearcats got three runs on seven hits with four errors.
- The Tigers scored seven runs on 15 hits with one error. Fort Hays got one in the second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh innings. FHSU scored two in the sixth.
- Garrett Fort was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a double. He also drew a walk.
- Jake Lewis was 1-for-3 with a run scored. He also reached in the ninth with a walk.
- James Holler was 1-for-4 with a run scored. He hit a two-out single in the sixth and scored on Handzlik's triple.
- Jay Hrdlicka was 1-for-4 on the day.
- Nick Gotta drew a walk to lead off the eighth, his 43rd free pass of the year.
- Aaron Barratt scored the Bearcats' second run of the day after reaching on a fielder's choice in the second.
- Anthony Caenepeel recorded six strikeouts, going 6.0 innings. He allowed six runs but only three were earned. He did not walk a batter.
- Nikko Pablo worked the seventh inning for Northwest. He had one strikeout and allowed one run. He did not issue a walk.
- Jimmy McElwain worked a scoreless eighth inning. He allowed just one hit.

Key Northwest Innings
- Handzlik led off the second with a single to right. He went to second on a passed ball and went to third on a Lewis single. With runners on the corners, Barratt grounded into a fielder's choice, resulting in Handzlik being tagged out between third and home. Lewis moved to third on the play and Barratt went to second. With one down, Fort doubled down the right field line to score two.

- Handzlik hit an RBI triple with two down in the top of the sixth. His three-bagger drove in Holler who singled up the middle with two down in the frame.

Up Next
- The Bearcats and the Tigers will play at 5 p.m. on Friday night in game two.