Penguins to Compete at Southland Bowling League Championship This Weekend

The Youngstown State bowling team will try to earn the Southland Bowling League's automatic berth into the National Collegiate Bowling Championship as it competes this weekend at the conference championship. The double-elimination tournament will take place Friday through Sunday at Colonial Bowling Lanes in Harahan, La.

Live video for the large majority of the matches the SBL Championship will be streamed on the InsideBowling YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/insidebowling), and regular updates will be provided on Twitter at @ysubowling

The Penguins are the fourth seed in the tournament for the second consecutive year, and they will open tournament play against fifth-seeded Louisiana Tech on Friday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. YSU's second match on Friday will be at 2:30 p.m. against either top-seeded Sam Houston or eighth-seeded Valparaiso.

The winner of the Southland Bowling League Championship will receive the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will begin on April 8 at regional sites.

Tournament Format

The Southland Bowling League Championship is a double-elimination tournament, and the first 14 matches will be decided in the mega match format. Mega matches are similar to having a full weekend tournament wrapped into one match. Teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five Baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional game and Baker games, they will advance to the next round. If the teams split the standard and Baker games, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of Baker games to determine the winner.

Schedule

All eight teams will begin play at the Southland Bowling League Championship on Friday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. The double-elimination tournament will continue with round two at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, and two matches will also be held on Saturday and Sunday. If the team emerging from the losers bracket wins against the winners bracket, a third match will be held on Sunday to determine the champion.

Round One - Friday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern

Match 1 - No. 1 Sam Houston vs. No. 8 Valparaiso
Match 2 - No. 4 Youngstown vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech
Match 3 - No. 3 Arkansas State vs. No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
Match 4 - No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 7 Tulane

Round Two - Friday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern

Match 5 - Match 1 Loser vs. Match 2 Loser
Match 6 - Match 3 Loser vs. Match 4 Loser
Match 7 - Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner
Match 8 - Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner

Round Three - Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern

Match 9 - Match 5 Winner vs. Match 7 Loser
Match 10 - Match 6 Winner vs. Match 8 Loser

Round Four - Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern

Match 11 - Match 7 Winner vs. Match 8 Winner
Match 12 - Match 9 Winner vs. Match 10 Winner

Round Five - Sunday at 9 a.m. Eastern

Match 13 (8 a.m.) - Match 11 Loser vs. Match 12 Winner
Match 14 (TBD) - Match 11 Winner vs. Match 13 Winner
Match 15 (if necessary) - Match 14 Winner vs. Match 14 Loser

Tournament Field

All eight teams from the Southland Bowling League will compete this weekend for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The bracket is seeded based on the NCAA RPI that was released on Wednesday, and the Southland's strength is once again demonstrated by the national rankings. Sam Houston holds the top seed in the SBL tournament as it ranks third in the RPI, and the Bearkats are followed in the RPI by Vanderbilt (4), Arkansas State (5), Youngstown State (7), Louisiana Tech (8), Stephen F. Austin (10), Tulane (19) and Valparaiso (33).

The Southland also has strong representation in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll that was released on March 10. Sam Houston also occupies the third spot in the NTCA ranking, followed by Vanderbilt (4), Arkansas State (6), Louisiana Tech (7), Stephen F. Austin (8), Youngstown State (9), Tulane (15) and Valparaiso. Six Southland teams are in the top 10 in both the NTCA poll and the RPI.

Youngstown State went 15-18 against Southland opponents during the regular season. The Penguins will be going for their first victory of the season over the Lady Techsters on Friday in the opening round.

YSU this season against Southland teams
3-5 vs. Arkansas State
0-4 vs. Louisiana Tech
2-1 vs. Sam Houston
3-1 | Stephen F. Austin
1-3 | Tulane
4-0 | Valparaiso
2-4 | Vanderbilt

Scouting The Penguins

Youngstown State has its best team in its six seasons as an intercollegiate program in 2021-22. The Penguins enter this weekend with a 72-44 overall record and a 46-40 record against ranked opponents. The Penguins are seventh in the RPI, and they are battle-tested heading into the Southland Championship as they bowled the second-toughest schedule during the regular season.

The Penguins have their top six bowlers back from last year's team that advanced to the Final Four of the National Collegiate Bowling Championship, and, bolstered by the addition of a talented freshman class, they will set school records for average in every format. Youngstown State is averaging 199.04 in Baker total pinfall games, which is nearly nine pins higher than last year's average, and the Penguins are averaging 200.67 in best-of-seven Baker games, up from 190.4 last year. In traditional play, Youngstown State is averaging 200.01, which is 6.27 pins better than last year's squad.

Senior Emma Wrenn, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Final Four in 2020-21, leads the Penguins in scoring average at 20.35 pins per frame. She is averaging 202.93 in traditional play as one of four bowlers currently ahead of the school-record pace for a season. Megan Grams is averaging a team-high 204.79 in traditional play, Jade Cote is close behind at 204.64, and Lyndsay Ennis is averaging 201.73. The current school record is 200.04.

School records set this season

Individual game - 289 by Emma Dockery at the Big Red Invitational (2/26) tied the record
Team Baker game - 300 at the Big Red Invitational (2/25) was the first 300 game in any format in program history
Team Baker match - 1,189 at the Big Red Invitational (2/25)
Tournament average (minimum 5 games) - 225.60 by Jade Cote at the Big Red Invitational (2/26)
Tournament total (5 games) - 1,128 by Jade Cote at the Big Red Invitational (2/26)
Tournament Baker pinfall (5 games) - 5,382 at the Big Red Invitational (2/25)
Tournament best-of-seven Baker average - 217.65 at the Northeast Classic (1/23/22)
Tournament traditional pinfall - 5,454 at the Big Red Invitational (2/26)
Tournament traditional format average - 218.16 at the Big Red Invitational (2/26)
Tournament average - 210.39 at the Northeast Classic (1/23/22)

Previously at the Southland Championship

While 2021-22 is YSU's sixth season as a program, this is the Penguins' third appearance at the Southland Bowling League Championships. Youngstown State competed as an independent in 2016-17 and 2017-18 before joining the SBL for 2018-19. The 2019-20 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and YSU returned to the conference tournament in 2020-21.

The Penguins went 0-2 in their conference tournament debut in 2018-19, losing as the sixth seed to No. 3 Arkansas State and No. 7 Louisiana Tech. Last year, YSU was the fourth seed and lost its opening match to No. 5 Sam Houston but stayed alive by beating No. 8 Valparaiso. The Penguins were eliminated in round three by top-seeded Arkansas State.

Recapping the Columbia 300 Music City Classic

Last week, Youngstown State finished 10th among 33 teams at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic, which was hosted by Vanderbilt at the Smyrna Bowling Center. It was the Penguins' best finish in five appearances at the tournament.

The Penguins went 10-3 in head-to-head matches, and they improved their place in the standings each day. YSU was 14th after the first day, 11th after day two and 10th at the finish. Youngstown State beat six ranked teams at the tournament, including a 4-0 sweep of Nebraska in bracket play on Sunday. The Penguins and Louisiana Tech had to go to a tiebreaker in their best-of-seven match, and the Lady Techsters held on for the 4.5-3.5 win.

Up Next

If Youngstown State can win the Southland Bowling League Championship, it would automatically qualify for the regionals of the NCAA Tournament on April 8-9. If the Penguins come up short this weekend, they will have a chance to earn an at-large bid. The field will be announced during a selection show that will be broadcast a 4 p.m. on March 30 on NCAA.com.