ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State was held to just five hits on Friday night by stellar Ouachita pitching and a late rally fell short as the Reddies dropped their season opener to the Tigers 5-3 at Clyde Berry Field.

OBU starter Adam Bahloul kept the Reddies off balance from the get-go and struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced in his first appearance of the year. Bahloul gave the Tigers 5.2 innings of work and struck out 12 batters while allowing just two hits. The Tigers' bats gave him a cushion by scoring a single run in the third, fourth, and fifth inning to push OBU in front 3-0.

The Reddies were nearly gifted a run in the fifth when a pop up from Danny Mitchell Jr. was allowed to drop by the Tigers' third baseman. Henderson's Brandon Pollock, who was on first base with two men out, continued to run through the ball in the air and had a chance to score on the play, but was called out on interference which ended the inning for HSU.

Ouachita (1-1) seized the swing in momentum and tacked on another run in the seventh on an RBI single to make it 4-0 after a balk moved runners on first and second up a base. Henderson saved a run, however, thanks to right fielder Joseph Shepherd and first baseman Blake Wynn, who perfectly executed the cut off to allow catcher Josh Aguilar to apply the tag at the plate on the runner trying to score from second.

Henderson (0-1) found a spark in the bottom half of the inning, when three-straight walks from OBU pitcher Abe Young gave the Reddies the bases loaded with no outs. After getting down in the count 0-2, Pollock battled back and came through with a two RBI double to right field to cut the lead to 4-2.

With two runners in scoring position and one out, Caleb Carr kept the rally going with an RBI single of his own into left, which trimmed the lead down to 4-3. It looked as though Henderson would tie it up when Wynn hit a sharp ground ball towards third base on the ensuing at-bat, but the Tigers' third-baseman made a terrific play to glove it and go to second, which started a 5-6-3 double play to get OBU out of the inning with its lead intact.

The Tigers added an insurance run in the top of the eighth when a high bouncing ball which would have ended the inning just surpassed the reach of pitcher Jon Youngblood, allowing a pinch runner standing on third base to reach home and make it 5-3. The Reddies went down in order in the bottom half and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but could not put another rally together.

Henderson starter Zach Eschberger took the loss in his first start of the year despite allowing just two hits. Eschberger walked five and struck out four on the night. Pollock was the only Reddie with more than a single hit and finished 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs on his double in the seventh. True freshman Carson Cox made his collegiate debut in the fifth inning and struck out four of the 11 batters he faced in 2.2 innings.

The Reddies return to action tomorrow at noon when they host Union University at Clyde Berry Field.