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Story Headlines
- The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team won its 2017 season opener over Fort Hays State, 4-2, on Friday afternoon.
- The game against Fort Hays was played as a non-conference contest at Myers Stadium in Alva, Okla., on the Northwestern Oklahoma State University campus.
- Anthony Caenepeel got the start on the mound and struck out 12 batters over 6.1 innings. He allowed just two hits and one run while walking just three batters.
- Kevin Handzlik went 2-for-3 ont he day with a walk. He accounted for a pair of runs for Northwest and also stole a base.

Key Northwest Statistics
- Northwest out hit the Tigers, 7-3, on the day. Fort Hays State had two errors while Northwest had one error.
- Caenepeel worked four perfect frames in his 6.1 innings of work. He struck out the side in the fourth and retired 12 straight batters from between the third and seventh innings.
- Garret Fort had a double and scored the Bearcats' first run of the season, finishing the day 1-for-4.
- Ozzie Adams also collected a hit on the day, going 1-for-4.
- James Holler picked up an RBI, going 1-for-4 on Friday.
- Landon Figg went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. He had an RBI and also scored a run.
- Jay Hrdlicka was 1-for-3 on the day.
- Jacob Wagner closed out the seventh inning after Caenepeel departed. He got a groundout then a flyout with a runner on second to end the threat.
- Austin Battaglia did not allow a hit or a walk while facing the minimum in the eighth.
- Nikko Pablo picked up the save, working the ninth inning. He allowed one hit and one run with one strikeout.

Key Northwest Innings
- Fort doubled to lead off the first in the Bearcats' opening at bat of the year. He would come around to score on a Holler single to center to put Northwest up, 1-0.

- With one out and the bases loaded in the top half of the second inning, Caenepeel gave up the lone run of his outing on a single up the middle. But with the Tigers searching for more runs, Caenepeel shut the door by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.

- With one out in the fourth, Handzlik singled to right. Figg singled to left and went to second on an error. The error also allowed Handzlik to come all the way around from first to score to put Northwest up, 2-1.

- Northwest added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth. Handzlik again hit a one-out single and then stole second base. Figg drew a walk but the Tigers recorded a second out on a strikeout. With Logan Rycraft up, Fort Hays' shortstop committed an error allowing Handzlik and Figg to come around to score to make it 4-1.

Up Next
- Northwest will stay in Alva, Okla., to face Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday and Sunday. Both games will begin at noon. Live video, live audio and live statistics will be available for both games.