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ATHENS, Ohio - The RedHawk baseball team dropped its series opener at Ohio, 9-5, Friday evening in a back-and-forth battle at Bob Wren Stadium. Miami battled from behind to tie the contest three separate times but the Bobcats used four runs over their final two at-bats to grab the victory.

The Red & White were able to get something going early as Tyler Harris led the game off with a single up the middle before taking second on a wild pitch. A deep fly out by Adam Yacek allowed Harris to get to third, setting up a Ross Haffey sacrifice fly that handed the `Hawks a 1-0 lead. However, Ohio would answer with a leadoff solo shot in the bottom half of the inning, putting the score at 1-1 after just an inning of play.

Another solo homer in the bottom of the second got the Bobcats their first lead of the evening at 2-1.

Miami matched with a leadoff round-tripper from Harris in the away half of the third, evening the game at 2-all. Ohio got back in front on an RBI single to right in its portion of the frame, giving the `Cats a 3-2 margin after three.

The RedHawks were able to pull even again in their half of the fourth when Carlos Texidor drew a two-out walk and scored on a Dallas Hall double down the left field line. However, once again, Ohio had an answer. The Bobcats would retake the lead on their third homer of the day, another solo shot, and an RBI double. After four, OU had a 5-3 advantage.

Some two-out hitting in the top of the fifth helped Miami draw even for a third time. Following two quick outs, Grant Hartwig kept the frame alive with a walk before a Landon Stephens double put runners on second and third. Cal Elvers continued the rally by delivering on a double to the left field gap, bringing in both Hartwig and Stephens to deadlock the game at 5-all.

Ohio moved out to its biggest lead of the day, for the time-being, in the seventh when a bases-loaded double brought home all three baserunners, making the score 8-5 in favor of the Bobcats. Ohio would tack on an insurance tally in the eighth with an RBI bloop single to left.

The teams return to the diamond for game two on Saturday with a 6 p.m. first pitch, a change from the originally-scheduled 3 p.m. start due to rain.