South Australia suffered a late mini collapse to stumble to 7-237 at stumps on day one of the Sheffield Shield clash with Western Australia at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
The Redbacks fell to 3-56 in the morning session before in-form batsman Callum Ferguson (63) dug out a valuable half-century.
Ferguson combined with talented left-hander Travis Head (28) and, later, all-rounder Jake Brown (55) for 57- and 80-run partnerships respectively.
In just his fourth first-class appearance in five years for the Redbacks, Brown kept the innings alive late in proceedings once Ferguson was dismissed.
The mature-aged rookie smashed nine fours on his way to a second successive 50 following a 65-run knock against New South Wales two weeks ago, until he tumbled and the Redbacks lost 3-9.
Redbacks skipper Johan Botha (19 not out) and fast bowler Joe Mennie (three not out) will resume batting on Friday.
Paceman Michael Hogan was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors after slicing through the hosts' top order and finishing with 3-38.
The Redbacks were on the front foot immediately after winning the toss and electing to bat when former captain Michael Klinger whipped away back-to-back boundaries off his pads in the opening over.
But the hosts' blistering start came to halt the very next over when Sam Raphael (five) was caught behind.
The Warriors soon found their line and length with the ball following Raphael's dismissal to sap the energy out of the Redbacks innings.
New man at the crease, Alex Carey (31), and Klinger held their nerve though and patiently picked their runs, until the latter departed for 13.
Klinger, who has had a nightmare of a domestic summer with just 289 runs at an average of 20.64 in Shield cricket, slashed at a full delivery from returning WA speedster Nathan Coulter-Nile (1-60) which carried to former Australian veteran Mike Hussey at second slip.
Carey was batting impressively until he was struck on the back pad for lbw by Warriors teenage spin sensation Ashton Agar (2-63) after attempting a loose sweep shot.
The 21-year-old's dismissal paved the way for Ferguson who returned from a notable spell with Australia A after two half-centuries against the England Lions in the five-match series in Hobart and Sydney.
Ferguson unloaded with a boundary to get off the mark as the right-hander, along with Head, steered the Redbacks to 3-68 at lunch.
Almost half an hour of play passed without the Redbacks registering a run following the break before Ferguson finally fired a shot to the boundary.
Head also plundered a trio of boundaries before lofting another wide of mid-on to bring up the 50-run partnership with Ferguson.
The union came to an end the next over when Head edged into the gloves of Warriors wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman.
Brown covered the loss of Head with an explosive display of batting.
With Ferguson closing in on a second Shield half-century this season, Brown belted five boundaries as the Redbacks posted 85 runs from 30 overs in the middle session to enter tea at 4-153.
Ferguson eventually reached 50 just after the flood lights at Adelaide Oval flashed on due to the gloomy conditions overhead, but could not see out the day when he was bowled by Hogan.
Ferguson's dismissal derailed his side's innings once more as SA lost wicketkeeper Tim Ludeman (six) and Brown in quick succession with play drawing to a close.