LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Jax State dropped the first portion of their first Mega Match at the 2025 National Collegiate Bowling Championship at the Suncoast Bowling Center, but rallied to win the Mega Match 2-1 to secure a spot in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Central against Youngstown State.
Wichita State won the traditional portion of the match, but the Gamecocks won the five game Baker total pinfall portion and the Baker best-of-seven to come away with the win.
Wichita State took a 1-0 lead in the Mega Match format with a 1052-1018 win in traditional play. Annalise OBryant led Jax State with a 226 and was followed by Erin Klemencic's 214. OBryant rolled six consecutive strikes to close out the match. Klemencic had four strikes in her first five frames. Dannielle Henderson added a 198, followed by a 191 from Emma Yoder and a 189 from Anna Warkel.
"We brought everybody together and just said, it's just 1-0 now, and these matches are just so long, and they're made for that," said Warkel of the time between traditional and Baker play. "Instead of looking at it like, we're behind, we just have to stay ahead of the process."
The Gamecocks eked out a 199-192 edge in the first of five Baker games in the second stage of the match, highlighted by a strike from Erin Klemencic in the eighth to take advantage of an open frame by the Shockers. The lead grew by 11 after a 223-212 win in the second after starting the match with four consecutive strikes and getting three more in the 10th from Dannielle Henderson.
WSU started the third game strong and whittled the Jax State lead to six in the sixth but the Gamecocks finished strong for a 215-182 advantage. A 30-pin victory in the fourth took the Gamecock advantage down to 21 heading to the final Baker game as the Shockers won 235-205. Jax State responded with seven-straight strikes in the fifth for a 232-212 win for a 1,074-1,033 overall total to force the best-of-seven series.
"I don't think there's a particular shot that made a difference or changed momentum," said coach Shannon O'Keefe. "I think it was the short-term memory of the bad ones; letting the bad ones go quickly and just going back to work."
The Shockers won the first game of the series 231-216, closing strong after the match was tied at 157 through seven frames. The Gamecocks answered back in a big way with a 266-177 win after WSU left three frames open and Jax State started with four straight strikes and had a streak of five in a row at the end of the match.
When WSU went back to the right lane, they came through with a 255-223 win to regain the lead. Jax State was able to even the match after four with a 229-214 win after a double in the ninth after picking up four single-pin spares in the first seven frames.
The Shockers came within a game of clinching a spot in the semis after a 201-189 win in the fifth game.
Jax State took the sixth 233-171 after the Shockers left three frames open, then clinched the match in the seventh game with a 233-171 win after recording five consecutive strikes in the eighth through 10th frames.
The winner of the match at 5 p.m. will advance to tomorrow night's title match.
