ALVA, Okla. - Northwestern Oklahoma State hosted Fort Hays State for the third time on the season, Tuesday afternoon and came up with a big confidence boosting win, 16-7.

Six Ranger batters collected multiple hits on the day, led by Jorin Van Amstel who went 3-for-5 at the dish. Seven RBI's came off the bat of Pat Delano however as he struck two mammoth homers and an RBI groundout, leading the home team to victory.

The other four batters to have two hits on the afternoon were Greg Carrington (2-4), Steven Deckard (2-5), TJ Kassner (2-4) and Daschal Johnson (2-5).

Freshman pitcher, Tyler Havener started on the hill for the Rangers and ended up in an early jam, but with a heads up play by himself and catcher Cole Anderson, the Ranger starter was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

The bottom half of the first was a big one for the home team as they started out with two singles, in Greg Carrington and Jorin Van Amstel. The two singles were quickly followed up by a bomb over the right field wall by Pat Delano for his first homer of the young season.

Following an empty frame for the Tigers, the Rangers poured it on some more, scoring four more, giving the young pitcher, Havener a seven-run cushion.

Through two innings of play, Northwestern collected eight total hits, seven of which were singles and a bomb.

Despite the big 7-0 early lead, FHSU quickly made a statement of their own, touching up Havener for five hits and four runs to make a three-run game.

In the top of the fourth inning, Collin Fouts found himself in an early hole, but with the bases loaded and two outs, Deckard made a great diving play to end the threat with zero runs being plated in the inning. Fouts would eventually go on for the win in the contest.

An error filled fifth inning cost the Rangers another run, making it 7-5 in favor of the home club, but the bottom half of the inning was a big one as they put up a six-spot on the Tigers on four hits. 

The Tigers were able to plate a couple more in the seventh inning to make it 13-7, but Northwestern would tack on three more on Delano's second three-run shot of the day to make it a nine-run game going into the eighth frame and that's where the score would eventually remain.

Northwestern belted a season high 16 hits on the afternoon and were able to plate 16 runs in the process, making for a confidence booster heading into conference play this weekend.

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Northwestern will host conference and cross-state rival Southeastern Oklahoma State (1-11, 0-6 GAC) Friday and Saturday with the game on Friday starting at 6 p.m.