SMYRNA, TENNESSEE---The St. Francis College women's bowling team, currently ranked 11th in the most recent National Tenpins Coaches Association poll, won four of six quad Baker format matches on Saturday in the second day of action at the Columbia 300/Music City Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt University at the Smyrna Bowling Center in Smyrna, Tennessee.
St. Francis 646, Adelphi 625
With only a couple exceptions, the Terriers and ninth-ranked Panthers have played some of the more exciting and close matches of the 2009-2010 season. This time, the Terriers rallied from a 23-pin deficit after two games (167-146 and 162-160 Adelphi wins), winning game three 146-136 and then saving their best for last with a 194-160 win in game four to prevail by 21 pins. It was a sign of things to come for the Terriers on Saturday, as they needed to rally for three of their four victories on the day.
Arkansas State 716, St. Francis 605
St. Francis was unable to sustain the momentum of their comeback win over Adelphi as they opened their match against Arkansas State University with their low score of the day (124), and never recovered as Arkansas State steadily extended their lead throughout the match.
St. Francis 706, Delaware State 688
While this was the only match on the day that the Terriers led from start to finish, it was hardly an easy win. St. Francis won the first game, 171-161 and then took game two, 159-153. In game three, the Hornets fired a 200, but the Terriers extended their lead with a 212. The key to game three was a triple from frames five through seven, and then a tough 6-7 split conversion by freshman Kaitlin Caspar in the eighth to keep the momentum squarely in St. Francis' favor. The Hornets won game four, but only by ten pins, 174-164, so St. Francis held on to win by 18.
St. Francis 660, Morgan State 648
The Terriers dropped game one in their match with the Bears, 171-152. In game two, senior Alexandra Stein struck out in the tenth frame to help St. Francis erase the deficit with a 186-161 win. In the third game, the Bears prevailed 164-159, so the Terrier lead diminished to a single pin. Victory in the match was not assured until the closing frames of game four, which was won by the Terriers, 163-152.
St. Francis 716, Minnesota State-Mankato 681
The Terrier outlook appeared bleak after Minnesota State-Mankato posted a 212-167 win to open the match, and then padded their lead with a 154-143 win in game two. Stein again tripled in the tenth frame to help St. Francis to a 214-201 win in game three, making a small dent in the deficit and cutting it to 43 pins. In game four, Minnesota-Mankato turned in a sequence of open frames while the Terriers were stringing marks. The Terriers took the lead in the match in the seventh frame and went on to victory with a resounding 192-114 margin in the fourth game.
Louisiana Tech 772, St. Francis 693
In the "posiiton round" match, an effort was made to not replicate matches contested earlier in the day, so the 16th-place Terriers were matched against the 12th-place Lady Techsters. St. Francis won the first game by eight pins, 177-169, before Louisiana Tech siezed control of the match with a 238-187 win in game two. The Lady Techsters also won the last two games, 187-170 and 178-159, to prevail.
The Terriers finished the total pinfall segment of the tournament in 15th place, and will open play on Sunday against 16th-place Kutztown University. Sunday's play features three best-of-seven Baker matches, where teams can move either up or down a maximum of three positions in the standings over the course of play.