HARAHAN, La.—It was far from easy for the No. 1 team in the country in the Conference USA Bowling Championship on Sunday.
 
Jax State bounced back after dropping the Mega Match final to Arkansas State to come away with the title after the Baker best of seven series tiebreaker went to a modified Baker game to determine the winner.
 
The Gamecocks won the traditional portion of the match 1,061-930 behind a 244 from Emma Yoder and a 212 from Erin Klemencic. Jax State fell behind 41 pins after two Baker games but cut it to nine with a 235-203 advantage in the third. Arkansas State pushed the lead right back to 31 after going perfect once through the lineup in the fourth in a 244-222 win. In the fifth, the Gamecocks made a run but two open frames in the early going hurt their pin total and were only able to cut off 20 from the deficit, dropping the Baker total pinfall 1,082-1,071.
 
In the first game of the best of seven Baker series, Jax State sent a message with a 245-185 win with six straight strikes to open. They struggled to string strikes together in the following matches, falling behind 3-1 after 217-190, 202-175, and 211-186 losses. They were able to force a sixth game with a 257-165 win. The Red Wolves responded with a 233-192 win, getting a huge spare pickup in the sixth to stay in control of the match and send the tournament to a winner-take-all Baker best of seven series.
 
Arkansas State opened the first game of the final series with four consecutive strikes in a 201-194 win, but the Gamecocks rallied to tie in the second at 217. The Red Wolves also took the third 193-185 after Jax State left two frames open. A strike by Yoder in the fourth to double when Arkansas State left the frame open on a 7-10 split was crucial to come away with a 179-172 win to get the Gamecocks within a game.
 
A 228-191 win in the fifth tied the match, then a 205-177 win in the sixth gave the top seed a chance to clinch, but didn't record their first strike until the fifth frame having already left four open in a 225-203 loss to force the modified Baker game tiebreaker with each team recording 3.5 wins in the best of seven.
 
Strikes by Annalise OBryant, Abbie Leiendecker, and Gianna Brandolino were enough to secure the match and the conference title.
 
Brandolino, Klemencic, and Kaitlyn Stull were named to the all-tournament team with Brandolino claiming Tournament MVP honors.
 
The Gamecocks secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and will learn their regional location and opponents on Wednesday.