Penguins Stay Alive, Will Face Arkansas State Again Saturday in Elimination Match

Friday, April 8

Lansing, Mich. (Royal Scot Golf & Bowl)

9 AM

Youngstown State University

L, 1-2

Arkansas State

Penguins Stay Alive, Will Face Arkansas State Again Saturday in Elimination Match

4/8/2022 12:00:00 AM | Bowling

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The Youngstown State bowling team split its two matches on the first day of the NCAA Regional and survived an elimination match to advance to Saturday.

The Penguins, who are the third seed in the four-team Regional bracket in Lansing, Mich., dropped their opening mega-match to Arkansas State 2-1 in the morning to drop into the elimination bracket. Youngstown State then battled through a 2-0 victory over Alabama State to stay alive in the postseason.

Youngstown State will bowl another elimination match on Saturday at 9 a.m. against Arkansas State, which lost 2-1 to top-seeded Vanderbilt in the winners bracket match on Friday.

"We have prepared ourselves for these tough battles all season long, and the ladies are doing a solid job handling the atmosphere," said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. "Outside of a game and a half this morning, I thought we bowled very well and were a break away from game seven against Arkansas State. We also bowled better than the scores showed in the afternoon and did a great job battling. I'm excited the ladies get to spend time with friends and family tonight. We'll be sure to be rested and ready to elevate tomorrow."

The Penguins won the traditional point in both of their matches on Friday, and Jade Côté was the top scorer in those rounds with games of 239 and 197 for a 218 average. Megan Grams averaged 198.5 over the two games, and Emma Wrenn averaged 197.5

Match 1 vs. Arkansas State

Youngstown State claimed the traditional round against Arkansas State in a battle of Southland Bowling League programs, but the Red Wolves rallied to win the match 2-1 in the morning session.

With the loss, Youngstown State moves to the elimination bracket and will fight to stay alive in the Regional at 3 p.m. against Alabama State. The Hornets dropped their opening match of the tournament 2-0 to Vanderbilt.

The Penguins took a 1-0 lead in the match behind four bowlers topping 200 in the traditional round against Arkansas State. YSU freshman Jade Côté threw the front six strikes as part of a 239 game that was the highest on the pair, and Megan Grams (207), Madyson Marx (205) and Emma Wrenn (205) were also above 200. The Red Wolves had the higher score in three spots in the lineup, but Marx topped Arkansas State's second bowler by 46 pins and Cote had a 49-pin advantage on her counterpart in the third slot to give the Penguins a 1,030-1,019 win.

Arkansas State had a strong final two frames in the traditional point to put pressure on the Penguins and close the final gap to 11 pins, and the Red Wolves used that momentum to have the edge in all five games of the quint Baker round to win 1,025-900. Arkansas State was consistent across the set with its scores ranging between 192 and 216. The Penguins had frequent single-pin leaves throughout the match, and they had five first-ball nines in game three that saw Arkansas State extend its lead to 79 pins with a 216-172 advantage.

In the best-of-seven Baker round, Arkansas State built a 2-0 lead with a 69-pin win in game one and a 41-pin victory in game two. The Penguins finally got some fortune from the pins in game three as a string of five strikes from the fifth through the ninth frames carried them to a 223-155 win, and an early turkey helped offset consecutive opens in the fourth game as YSU held on to win 187-177 to even the match. Arkansas State was clean and had a big triple with a strike in the ninth and the first two in the 10th from Faith Welch and Brooklyn Buchanan to win 228-211 in game five, and that tandem came through again in game six as the Red Wolves won 205-197. Emma Dockery struck in the ninth to give the Penguins a chance, but, with Wrenn needing a double to prolong the match, the 7-pin stayed up among a crowd of pins on her first ball.

Traditional Point

Player	YSU	A-State	Difference
Grams	207	233	-26
Marx	205	159	46
Cote	239	190	49
Dockery	174	222	-48
Wrenn	205	215	-10
Total	1,030	1,019	+11

Baker Total Pinfall Point

Game	YSU	A-State	Difference
1	174	201	-27
2	184	192	-8
3	172	216	-44
4	180	206	-26
5	190	210	-20
Total	900	1,025	-125

Best-of-Seven Baker

Game	YSU	A-State	Winner
1	148	217	A-State
2	174	215	A-State
3	233	155	YSU
4	187	177	YSU
5	211	228	A-State
6	197	205	A-State
Total	2	4	A-State

Match 2 vs. Alabama State

In an elimination match on Friday afternoon, Youngstown State fought off SWAC champion Alabama State for a 2-0 victory that allows the Penguins to advance to the second day of the Lansing Regional.

Both rounds were played at a lower scoring pace compared to YSU's mega-match against Arkansas State in the morning. The Penguins claimed the traditional point by 49 pins, 934-885, and they took the quint Baker set 908-844.

In the conventional format, Dockery had the highest game on the pair with a 200, and Côté posted a 197. The Penguins held a 63-pin advantage from their two spots in the lineup, and Wrenn and Grams both shot 190. Dockery answered back-to-back single-pin misses with five straight strikes into the ninth frame as part of her 200, and Côté had an early three-bagger and just one open.

Just as it did against the Red Wolves in the morning, the Penguins had to battle to find strikes in the Baker format against the Hornets. YSU had three strikes in game one, and Alabama State had a strong finish to close what was a big gap down to just 22 pins, 186-164. The Penguins followed with a clean 208 for their highest score in the set, but ASU also had its top game at 204. YSU added a dozen to its lead with a 162-150 advantage in game three, and the Penguins built the lead to 86 pins with a 196-148 margin in the fourth game. Alabama State outscored YSU 178-156 in game five for the final margin.

Traditional Point