HARAHAN, La.—Jax State had to overcome a narrow loss in the traditional portion of its Conference USA quarterfinal mega match against fourth-ranked Nebraska to advance to the semifinal round against Arkansas State.
After a 13-pin loss in the traditional match, the Gamecocks came away with a 49-pin victory in the five-game Baker total pinfall to force a best of seven tiebreaker which they won 4-1 to take the Mega Match 2-1.
The Gamecocks led the traditional match 496-440 through five behind
Emma Yoder and
Gianna Brandolino who struck on each of their first five attempts. Nebraska answered with all strikes during the sixth when Jax State had a pair of open frames, then cut the deficit to just 10, then took a 39-pin lead into the eighth and closed with a 1,047-1,034 win.
Erin Klemencic led the Gamecocks in traditional with a 258, closing with six consecutive stikes, followed by Brandolino's 219 and a 214 from Yoder.
Nebraska had a 209-202 lead after the first of five Baker games but the Gamecocks answered in a big way with a 255-189 win after striking once through the lineup. The lead grew to 77 after a 221-203 win, but was shrunk down to 32 heading into the final game after Nebraska came back with a 224-179 win. Brandolino and
Kaitlyn Stull doubled in the sixth when the Cornhuskers left the frame open. Klemencic dialed in a strike in the ninth after back-to-back spares to help the Gamecocks win 1,057-1,008 after posting a 200-183 win in the fifth.
The best of seven Baker series got off to a slow start on the left lane when the Gamecocks didn't get their first strike until the fifth from Brandolino, dropping the opening game 213-197. The top-seeded Gamecocks led the second 105-98 after
Abbie Leiendecker,
Annalise OBryant, and Stull opened with strikes. Nebraska was able to take a 155-148 lead through eight, but a strike by Klemencic in the ninth followed by three strikes in the 10
th from Brandolino evened the match at one with a 208-183 Jax State win.
The third went to Jax State when they hung on for a 188-182 win after leaving the 10
th open. Leiendecker capped off a triple in the seventh of the fourth game which tied the game at 145. Stull picked up a huge split in the eighth to help the Gamecocks come within a game of clinching with a 214-192 win.
Jax State clinched the match in Game 5 with a 206-184 win despite running into some troubles late.
The Gamecocks will face Arkansas State Saturday at 9 a.m. with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship match.
