Harahan, La. — Youngstown State's bowling team dropped its opening match of the Conference USA Championship on Thursday morning with a 2-0 loss to Sam Houston State.
The second-seeded Penguins will now move to the contender's bracket and face elimination for the rest of its matches in the double-elimination event at Colonial Lanes. Youngstown State's next match will be at 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday against sixth-seeded Stephen F. Austin.
Sam Houston, the seventh seed which also won a match on Wednesday, moves on in the winner's bracket to play Vanderbilt. Sam Houston beat YSU 967-959 in the traditional segment and 1,047-956 in the Baker portion.
The Penguins and Bearkats were tight throughout the traditional point of the mega match, and YSU ended up finishing one mark short.
Youngstown State's first clean frame was the sixth, and it strung together 16 consecutive marks from Kirsten Moore's strike in the fifth through her spare in the eighth. The Penguins were also clean in the ninth frame to set up a nailbiter in the 10th.
Ellie Drescher had a spare and a strike to finish with a 168 in the leadoff position, and Moore doubled to post a 226 and beat her opponent by 26 pins. Madison Doseck left the 4-6-7-10 split and had to settle for a 168, and Jade Cote finished by throwing the back four in a 235. That gave the Penguins a two-pin lead over the top four spots in the lineup, and Madyson Marx had a spare and a strike to complete a 162 game for YSU's final total of 959.
Sam Houston anchor Denise Blankenzee was building off a strike in the ninth, and she picked up the 8-pin on a spare and followed with a strike to close out the point.
The Bearkats kept the momentum and began the Baker round with a 214-181 edge after the first game, and YSU was never able to catch them. The Penguins trailed by 68 pins despite firing a 225 in game three, and they had a chance to take a chunk out of the difference in game four. YSU had five strikes and three nine-count spares through eight frames, but it left the Greek Church and the 7-10 split in its last two frames and finished with a 190. The Penguins were only able to shave six pins off the deficit, and Sam Houston struck on six of its first seven attempts in game five on its way to a 232.
All matches this week at the Conference USA Championship are being broadcast live on ESPN+.
Thursday's Results
No. 2 Youngstown State vs. No. 7 Sam Houston
Traditional Round - SHSU 967-959
- Drescher - 168 | 199 - SHSU
- Moore - 226 | 200 - SHSU
- Doseck - 168 | 200 - SHSU
- Cote - 235 | 196 - SHSU
- Marx - 162 | 172 - SHSU
Baker Round - SHSU 1,047-956
- Game 1: 181-214 | -33
- Game 2: 157-175 | -18 (-51)
- Game 3: 225-242 | -17 (-68)
- Game 4: 190-184 | +6 (-62)
- Game 5: 203-232 | -29 (-91)
