GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Jacksonville State bowling team went 3-2 in the Baker portion of North Carolina A&T's Stallings Invitational and heads into Saturday in second place.
The top-ranked Gamecocks (76-19) posted wins over Howard, Maryland Eastern Shore and Coppin State but dropped close matches to No. 3 Arkansas State and No. 6 Nebraska. They totaled 5,083 pins over the five matches on Friday, second only to Arkansas State's 5,157 and just ahead of host and No. 4 NCAT in third.
Jax State's day started with a 977-819 win over Howard, a match that saw the Gamecocks post scores over 200 in three of the five games. The lineup of freshman
Dannielle Henderson and seniors
Isabel Allen,
Maranda Pattison,
Rebecca Hagerman and
Crystal Elliott used games of 202 and 225 to get off to a solid start, and they had more pins than the Bison in four of the five games.
The Gamecocks used the same five in match two against Arkansas State but switched Henderson and Allen's spots at the top of the order. They fell behind by 20 pins after the first game and couldn't claw back before losing to the Wolves 1,089-1,037.
The third match saw Jax State surpass 1,000 pins again and beat UMES in all five games en route to a 1,062-916 win. The Gamecocks lineup of Allen, junior
Anna Warkel, Henderson Elliott and Hagerman posted a 235 in the third game, their best game of the day.
Jax State got another win in the fourth match against Coppin State, beating the Eagles in the first four games. The same lineup that bowled game three for Jax State led the Gamecocks to a 997-775 win in the fourth.
The final match of the day was a tough one that saw the Gamecocks fall to the Huskers by just two pins. Nebraska jumped out to an early lead, winning the first three games and taking a 642-598 advantage into the fourth game. Jax State made up 42 of those pins in the fourth, outscoring Nebraska 201-159 but both teams finished with a 211 in the fifth to cap the 1,012-1,010 final.
The Gamecocks will continue play on Saturday with five traditional matches to wrap up qualifying for Sunday's bracket portion of the event.
