The Northwest Missouri State Bearcat baseball team picked up their first win of the 2012 season Friday afternoon beating the Northeastern State Riverhawks 12-6 at Rousey Field.

Ryan Abernathy got the Bearcats (1-4, 0-0 MIAA) off to a hot start doubling down the left field line to start off the game.  Abernathy would cross the plate off of a two-out Tyler Durant single.  A wild pitch and an error would put Northwest up 2-0 in the first.

A Jon Pomatto double in the second inning would spark a three-run inning to push the Northwest lead to 5-0.

With the lead at 9-0 in the third, the Riverhawks (3-5) would answer with two runs off of starter Chris Green.

The Bearcats weren’t finished scoring as they were able to push across single runs in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings.

Northeastern State would score two runs in the fifth and eighth innings before Josh Parrish came in and collected the final four outs for Northwest.

Green earned the win for the Bearcats after allowing three hits in four innings with four strikeouts.

Krueger led a balanced Bearcat attack, finishing the day 3-for-3 with two walks.

Abernathy, Pomatto, and Cameron Bedard also had multiple hits for Northwest on their way to a season-high 12 runs scored.

“We felt like we had an outstanding week of practice and it led to being prepared for our start today,” head coach Darin Loe said.  “Our offense did a great job early and we played outstanding defense all day.”

The Bearcats will look to continue their hot play Saturday as they face Arkansas Tech followed by another match-up with Northeastern State.  First-pitch from Rousey Field is slated for 11 a.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —