Smyrna, Tenn. — Youngstown State's bowling team won its final two matches on Sunday and finished 13th among a field of 34 teams at the 2026 Music City Classic to conclude the regular season.
The Penguins were 13th after qualifying, and that's where they finished after going 2-1 on Sunday. YSU went 8-5 overall at the tournament, a three-day event hosted by Vanderbilt at the Smyrna Bowling Center in what was its final tune-up for the Conference USA Championship. On the final day, YSU split two best-of-seven matches with No. 17 Tulane and added a win against No. 15 Newman.
"I'm very proud of our work. We made some mistakes the first day and a half, but we put those behind us to bowl quite well the last six matches," YSU head coach Doug Kuberski said. "These ladies navigated the challenges that were out there with grit and toughness. We now set our sights on a great week filled with some solid rest and preparation."
In the opening match against the Green Wave, YSU and Tulane played to a 3-3 tie with the winner bowling on the left lane in each of the first six games. The Penguins had lane choice for game seven and chose to stay on the left, but Tulane shot 206 on the right to win by 10 pins.
Youngstown State dropped its first two games against the Jets, but it regrouped to win game three 226-183 to shift the complexion of the match. The Penguins got back to even after game four with a 216-202 win, and they claimed the next two games by a total of four pins.
In the rematch with Tulane in the final match of the tournament, Youngstown State won 242-181 in game two and 193-170 in game three to take a 2-1 lead. Tulane won game four by 30 to even the match, but YSU answered with wins of 231-191 and 201-175 in the next two games to win the match 4-2.
The Penguins went 3-2 on both days of qualifying, which consisted of five Baker matches on Friday and five traditional matches on Saturday. YSU started 3-0 on Friday, beating Prairie View A&M, LIU and No. 12 North Carolina A&T. After dropping its first two matches on Saturday, the Penguins finished with three straight wins over No. 13 McKendree, FDU and Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Individually, Liv Baskin was the team's top finisher on traditional play with a five-game set of 1,046 that earned her 17th place. Amber Mason tied for 43rd, and Kara Beissel tied for 48th.
Youngstown State will begin competition at the Conference USA Championship on March 18.Â
Sunday's Bracket Match Results
Match 1: LOSS — 3-4 vs. No. 17 Tulane
Game 1: 207-164 | YSU
Game 2: 174-234 | Tulane
Game 3: 221-155 | YSU
Game 4: 171-213 | Tulane
Game 5: 227-159 | YSU
Game 6: 159-175 | Tulane
Game 7: 196-206 | Tulane
Match 2: WIN — 4-2 vs. No. 15 Newman
Game 1: 186-195 | Newman
Game 2: 189-193 | Newman
Game 3: 226-183 | YSU
Game 4: 216-202 | YSU
Game 5: 183-182 | YSU
Game 6: 205-202 | YSU
Match 3: WIN — 4-2 vs. No. 17 Tulane
Game 1: 177-203 | Tulane
Game 2: 242-181 | YSU
Game 3: 193-170 | YSU
Game 4: 172-202 | Tulane
Game 5: 231-191 | YSU
Game 6: 201-175 | YSU
