Kenosha, Wis. — Youngstown State's bowling team went 1-2 in its best-of-seven Baker matches on Sunday and finished fourth in the final standings at the 2024 SFA Ladyjack Classic. The three-day tournament was held at Sheridan Lanes in Kenosha, Wis.

The Penguins were fourth entering the day, and that's where they finished to earn their third straight top-five finish at tournaments to start the 2024-25 season.

"We put ourselves in position to win the event and made some great shots in some key moments. I love where our focus is as a group," said YSU head coach Doug Kuberski. "We are embracing our process and are having a lot of fun competing out there. While we have some little things to clean up, overall, I thought this was our most complete event of the season across the board. We are hungry and are ready to put in a solid week of work before New Jersey."

By finishing among the top four spots in qualifying, YSU had a chance at winning the tournament title in the championship bracket. The Penguins had a tight battle with Maryville that had to go to a five-frame tiebreaker, which the Saints won 100-87 to prevail for a 4.5-3.5 victory. That eliminated YSU from title contention and set up an opportunity to remain in the top four against Vanderbilt.

Youngstown State trailed the Commodores 2-1, but a 259 in game four evened the match and started to tilt the match in YSU's favor. The Penguins won game five 198-174 and game six 195-182 to win the match 4-2.

YSU's final match came against Nebraska, which held the top spot through qualifying but dropped its first two matches in the bracket on Sunday. The Huskers averaged 238.7 over their first three games to take a 3-0 lead, and YSU won game four before Nebraska finished with a win in game five.

Jacksonville State won the tournament by beating Maryville 4-2 in the championship match.

Youngstown State's final tournament of the fall semester will be the Garden State Classic in Howell, N.J., on Nov. 22-24.