ARLINGTON, Texas – Fourth-ranked Louisiana Tech came out slow at the Prairie View Invitational on Friday but started to string strikes together and cruised to a 4-1 record in the opening round at the International Training and Research Center.

The Bulldogs finished with a 5,034 total pin count to sit in fourth place.

Louisiana Tech started the day with a solid 205 and looked to be on their way to starting in the plus. However, Tech would have nine opens over the next four games. No. 2 Vanderbilt left the door open with misses of their own. The Bulldogs followed their opening game with 194, 181, 169, and 185. Tech had built a 60-pin lead after the Commodores shot 193, 161, and 166 to open the match. That lead would dwindle after Vanderbilt came back with a 191 and 202, but Tech would hold onto win 934-913.

LA Tech started to catch fire and began with the front seven against host Prairie View A&M before a 10-pin ended their run at perfection. The Bulldogs would follow that up with games of 191, 220, 198, and 195 to take the match 1,063-766.

The transition started to catch the Bulldogs in the opening game of No. 6 Arkansas State. Tech ended with two splits during a 149 game. They would respond with a 214, 193, 236, and 213 to finish with a 1,005. The Red Wolves had some problems of their own in the middle portion of the set and finished at 948 to give the Bulldogs another win.

Against No. 7 Nebraska, both teams had trouble striking during games one and five with low scores. Tech was able to come away with higher scores in both 175-173 and 166-164. The Bulldogs would shoot 195, 256, and 216 during the middle portion to 224, 203, and 193 for the Cornhuskers, giving Tech their fourth win, 1,008-947.

LA Tech found themselves in a quick hole against No. 1 Jacksonville State with eight opens in the first two games, shooting 138 and 151 while Jax State rolled 222 and 203. Down 136 pins, Tech quickly made up 86 of them in the next game. The Bulldogs finished with nine strikes on their way to a 268. They would follow that up with 249 and 223, but more than that would be needed as they would fall 1,065-1,029.

UP NEXT
The Prairie View Invitational will continue tomorrow with five traditional games starting at 9 a.m. CT on BowlTV.com.

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