KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? Taking on the Mid-American Conference West Division leaders, the Bobcat baseball squad took a 2-1 lead to the seventh inning but could not hold on as Western Michigan escaped with a 3-2 victory in the series opener Friday afternoon at Hyames Field.

With two outs and two runners on in the home half of the seventh, Bronco infielder Joe McDonald singled to left field to bring home the tying run, but Bryan Buck's (Hudson, Ohio) relay was errant and allowed the winning run to cross home plate for the 3-2 decision.

The Bobcats (18-15-1, 6-5-1 MAC) had a chance in their last at-bat to tie or take the lead, but couldn?t push a run across. Ben Crabtree (Roxbury, Conn.) singled up the middle with one out and Anthony Gressick (Lancaster, Ohio) was hit by a pitch. Phil Sabatini (Oakmont, Pa.) then reached on an infield single to load the bases, but Jon Vondrell (Centerville, Ohio) hit into a 4-6-3 double play that closed out the Ohio comeback bid.

?We hung in there and battled back, just like we have all year,? said Ohio Head Coach Joe Carbone. ?(Adam) Rosales is probably the only guy that can turn two on that ball. He?s an All-MAC shortstop. Jon was swinging the bat, just like we wanted him to. That?s just baseball.?

For the fifth game in a row, Ohio got on the board first. After both starting pitchers cruised through the first three innings, Brian Colopy (Columbus, Ohio) hit a two-out triple in the top of the fourth and came home one batter later as Crabtree singled to right field for the game?s first tally.

Western Michigan (20-13, 10-1 MAC) answered two at-bats later for the first time on Bobcat right-hander Derek Witt (Powell, Ohio). With a Bronco runner on second and two outs, Crabtree couldn?t field a swinging third strike and by the time he recovered to make the play, his throw was late to first, allowing the run to score.

The Bobcats wasted no time in regaining the lead as Dusty Hammond (Bellefontaine, Ohio) homered to right center in the top of the sixth for a 2-1 advantage, but fielding problems would spell doom again in the bottom of the seventh as Buck?s throw sailed into the Broncos? dugout to allow the winning run to score.

Witt (4-3) went the distance for Ohio, but suffered just his first loss since a March 26th start against Miami. He finished with seven strikeouts, no walks and allowed just one earned run.

?He went out and did a good job for us,? Carbone said. ?They had a couple seeing-eye groundballs that got through, but he kept us in the game. We played hard and played pretty good defense.?

Crabtree extended his personal best hitting streak to 15 games with a 2-for-3 performance and Sabatini finished 2-for-4.

Brian Kross (2-1) earned the victory in relief for the Broncos, who have won eight of their last 10 games.

The loss for Ohio, its first in nearly two weeks, ends a six-game winning streak over the Broncos.

?That was a good college baseball game; it really went down to the last out,? Carbone said. ?I thought both teams played pretty well. Hopefully we can come out and get them tomorrow.?

The Bobcats and Broncos will resume action tomorrow afternoon with a 1 p.m., first pitch. Gressick (1-1) is scheduled to take the ball for Ohio while Western Michigan will counter with Dan O?Brien (2-2).