WOODBRIDGE, Va. – The Jacksonville State bowling team continued its winning ways and added to its list of firsts in its inaugural season on Friday at Maryland Eastern Shore's Hawk Classic.
The seventh-ranked Gamecocks went a perfect 5-0 in Baker play to start their final tournament of the fall portion of their season and extended their win streak to 18 matches. They have now won 24 of their last 26 matches and used an historic performance in the first match of the day on Friday. The Gamecocks bowled the first perfect game in school history in the fourth game of a win over No. 11 Duquesne, setting the tone for another impressive day.
The lineup of
Kayla Smith,
Isabel Allen,
Maranda Pattison, Becca Hagerman and
Crystal Elliott combined for the first 300 in program history on Lane 18 at Bowl America, catapulting the Gamecocks to a convincing 1,238-908 win over the Dukes. It was the first of three scores over 1,200 pins on the day after having just one prior to Friday.
The match also featured scores of 265, 234, 226 and 213 to account for the highest Baker total in the program's young history, and it wouldn't take long for the Gamecocks to challenge that mark.
In the second match of the day, they totaled just two fewer pins in a 1,236-1,021 win over No. 23 Delaware State. Jax State set the tone early with a 223-170 advantage in the first game and then poured it on with a 268 in the second game and a 279 in the third. The Gamecocks closed with a 224 in game four and a 242 in game five.
Match three was a little closer, but the Gamecocks pulled off a 1,131-1,061 win over fourth-ranked North Carolina A&T. Jax State won the first two games, 263-225 and 226-212, but the Aggies answered with a 223-189 advantage in the third game. Scores of 246-227 in the fourth and 207-174 in the fifth put the match away.
The Gamecocks used a different lineup in the Match Four against No. 27 Monmouth but got the same result. Allen,
Anna Warkel, Hagerman,
Maranda Pattison and Elliott teamed up to dispose of the Hawks by a score of 1,115-970. They trailed after two games but rallied with scores of 249, 237 and 246 in their final three games to pull off the win and remain unbeaten on the day.
The fifth match of the day saw Jax State reach 1,200 pins for the third time in the event. The Gamecocks rolled past No. 25 Morgan State by a score of 1,200-904 behind the lineup of Warkel, Pattison, Hagerman, Allen and Elliott.
The Gamecocks racked up the highest pin total in the 22-team field through Friday's Baker matches with 5,920 pins and lead second-place and sixth-ranked Youngstown State by 202 pins headed into Saturday's traditional matches. Jax State will face Mount St. Mary's, Maryland Eastern Shore, Saint Francis, Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart on the second day of the three-day tournament.
All matches in the tournament are streamed online at BowlTV.com.
