PITTSBURGH – Jacksonville State is headed to the Bowling Final Four in its first year as a program.
The top-ranked and top-seeded Gamecocks (100-23) fought off eighth-ranked Duquesne in the championship match of the Pittsburgh Regional on Saturday, grabbing their spot to compete for the NCAA Championship next week at Thunderbowl in Detroit.
It marks another step in an historic inaugural season for Jax State, who announced the addition of bowling as its 18
th varsity sport in January of 2023. The Gamecocks hired head coach
Shannon O'Keefe as their head coach in May of 2023 and began competition in October.
They have now won nine tournaments in that inaugural season, counting the one on Saturday that punched their ticket to the Final Four. The Conference USA Champions will be part of an all CUSA field, joining Sam Houston, Arkansas State and Youngstown State.
The Gamecocks had to fight off a pesky Duquesne team to get there, beating the Dukes in Traditional before watching them rally in the final game of Baker to even the match at 1-1. After falling behind in the first game of the Baker Best-of-Seven, O'Keefe made a switch in the lineup, moving
Kayla Smith to anchor, and Jax State rolled.
The Gamecocks averaged 224 over the next four games, winning all of them and ending the host Dukes' hopes of an upset on their home lanes.
The Gamecocks had to rally to take the traditional round of the match. They trailed the Dukes by 41 pins after eight frames, but five open frames in the eighth and ninth left the door open for a Jax State comeback. The Gamecocks ran through it, taking a 980-962 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Jax State had three scores above 200, led for the second-straight match by
Kayla Smith. The senior from Salem, Ill., bowled a team-high 216 from the leadoff spot and set the tone for the rest of her team.
Graduate senior
Rebecca Hagerman got on a roll late in the game to post a 214, and senior
Isabel Allen added a 206. Graduate seniors
Maranda Pattison and
Crystal Elliott added a 180 and a 164, respectively.
The Dukes were the ones to rally in the Baker round. They fell behind by the Gamecocks after a 194-191 first game, and Jax State maintained a slim lead throughout the first four games.
Trailing by 27 pins with one game to play, Duquesne bowled a 254 to Jax State's 204 to edge the Gamecocks 1,022-999 to tie the match and send it to a deciding Baker Best-of-Seven.
The Dukes took the first game, 188-157, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 format. Jax State mixed the rotation up for game two and answered in a big way. With Hagerman leading off ahead of Elliott and Allen and Pattison setting up Smith at the anchor position, the Gamecocks bowled a 240 to win the game by just six pins and tie it up 1-1.
With Hagerman back in the setup position for the third game, Jax State continued to post big scores. A 234 beat the Dukes' 198 and gave the Gamecocks their first lead in the best-of-7 round at 2-1.
The Gamecocks toughed out a 189-155 win in game four to push Duquesne to the brink of elimination, and they put them away with a 233 in the final game.
Jax State will open play in the Final Four on Friday against Sam Houston, who defeated another CUSA team in the championship match of the Arlington, Texas Regional. Arkansas State won the Rochester Regional, while Youngstown State's win in the Lansing Regional punched its ticket.
