Penguins Beat Top-Ranked Vanderbilt to Highlight Day One in Delaware

Friday, November 22

Princess Anne, MD

9-55 AM

Youngstown State University

4-1

Hawk Classic Invitational

Penguins Beat Top-Ranked Vanderbilt to Highlight Day One in Delaware

11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM | Bowling

The Youngstown State bowling team registered the second win over a top-ranked team in program history on Friday at the first day of the Hawk Classic Invitational. The tournament is being hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore at Millsboro Lanes in Millsboro, Del.

The Penguins topped No. 1 Vanderbilt 1,032-1,014 in Baker play to finish off a four-win day. YSU's previous win over a top-ranked team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Poll came on March 15 when the Penguins beat McKendree at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic.

The victory over the Commodores highlighted a solid day for the Penguins as they went 4-1 in head-to-head Baker matches and posted the sixth-highest pinfall in the 18-team field.

"The ladies did a solid job today closing out sets," said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. "The shotmaking and communication were solid throughout the day, which empowered us to make solid moves pair-to-pair and lane-to-lane."

YSU was strong from the outset as it posted a 235 in its first game as part of a 988-865 win over No. 16 Saint Francis U. A 966-928 win over No. 25 Monmouth followed, and YSU's only loss of the day was 1,119-936 to No. 5 Sam Houston State. The Penguins bounced back with a 980-855 victory over Kutztown in which they shot 235 and 222 in the final two games to build momentum for Vanderbilt.

Youngstown State had games of 215, 193, 257, 158 and 209 against the Commodores for its highest set of the day. YSU marked in the final 11 frames and threw the final nine strikes in the 257 game, which put them up by 94 pins through three games. Vanderbilt shot 245 in the fourth game to shave 87 pins off the deficit, but YSU closed out the win with a 209-198 edge in the fifth game. Emma Wrenn and Emma Dockery threw a three-bagger from the ninth into the 10th frames to finish off a stretch of nine straight marks.

Sam Houston State posted the highest total on the first day of qualifying with an impressive 5,268. Arkansas State (5,024), North Carolina A&T (4,982), Duquesne (4,960) and Sacred Heart (4,906) are second through fifth, and 71 pins separate YSU from seventh-place Maryland Eastern Shore.

Youngstown State will bowl in five traditional matches on Saturday beginning at 9:55 a.m.

Friday's Baker Results