The Youngstown State bowling team had a historic day at the Hawk Classic on Friday where it not only reshaped the program's record book, it also approached an NCAA Record.
On a day when YSU bowled its second-ever perfect game and five of the top 10 Baker games in school history, the pinnacle of the day came in the Penguins' second match against Fairleigh Dickinson. Youngstown State threw 28 consecutive strikes in a stretch spanning the third through fifth games, and the final three games of the match against the Knights resulted in scores of 279, 300 and 286.
Those three games totaling 865 followed games of 216 and 242 to give Youngstown State a match score of 1,323. That was a school record by 134 pins, and it is the second-highest Baker set on record in an NCAA match. The only other 1,300 set on record is 1,331 by Duquesne in 2020, and there are no other documented occurrences of a team shooting higher than 1,240. The record-setting group for YSU was Megan Grams, Madison Doseck, Kirsten Moore, Jade Cote and Madyson Marx on lane 35 at Bowl America Woodbridge.
"Today was a special day across the board," said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. "We are elevating our togetherness and having some fun out there. I like how we are being disciplined in our focus and in our process and making quality shots. We are going to enjoy the evening, rest up, and are excited to continue our work together."
Youngstown State's total pinfall for the day was 5,718, which was a school record by 336 pins. On a high-scoring day across the house, 15 out of 22 teams in the field averaged at least 200 per game. The Penguins had the second-highest round score behind Jacksonville State (5,920), and they outscored Vanderbilt by 172 pins (5,546).
The Penguins began the event with a 1,129-1,043 win over No. 17 Sacred Heart, throwing strings of at least four strikes in each game. They carried that momentum into the match against #15 FDU, starting with a 216 and a 242. Youngstown State then struck on its first five attempts in game three before a nine-count spare in the sixth frame. After that, the Penguins threw 28 consecutive strikes from the seventh frame of game three into the 10th frame of game five.
In the perfect game, Marx hit the pocket pure on all three shots in the 10th frame to secure Youngstown State's second 300 game in its eight-year history. The first came on Feb. 25, 2022, and Moore, Cote and Marx were also part of that one.
The Penguins then threw the first 10 strikes in game five before Marx left the 4-6-7, and YSU finished with a 286 to complete the 1,323 set.
Youngstown State made one more run at perfection in its second game of match three against Saint Francis. The Penguins threw the front nine and finished with a 277, and they went on to win the match 1,139-951.
YSU's lone loss of the day came in its fourth match with a narrow 1,054-1,048 decision to No. 12 Maryland Eastern Shore. The Penguins finished out the opening day with a 1,079-1,030 win over No. 18 Mount St. Mary's in which they shot 277 in game five to come from behind.
Youngstown State will look to stay hot on Saturday as play continues with five traditional matches starting at 9:55 a.m. All matches this weekend are being streamed on BowlTV.
