JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. — The Louisiana Tech bowling team advanced to round four of the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships on Thursday at Kingpin Lanes.
The Bulldogs finished qualifying in fifth with a 4,929 for 24 Baker games. They would beat Oklahoma Christian 4-1 in the opening round before falling to Jacksonville State 4-2 in round two.
Tech opened the day with an 181 before reeling off five straight games in the plus. The Bulldogs closed out the first set with 228, 221, and 216.
They opened the next set with 256 and 252 and followed with 194 and 174. The Bulldogs closed out the opening block with 221, 266, 192, and 179, sitting in second with a 2,580 through 12.
In the second half, Tech shot games between 170 and 223 in every game. The Bulldogs rolled games of 192, 200, 170, 192, 180, 203, 223, 191, 217, 192, 182, and 207.
Game one of match play came down to the 10th frame, where LA Tech would leave the 1-2-4-10 and pick up three pins, while Oklahoma Christian left the 2-4-7 and converted the spare to win 193-192. The Bulldogs would take control from there and close out the match in four straight games, winning 208-162, 197-162, 212-188, and 243-216.
LA Tech would give NCAA National Champion Jacksonville State all they could handle. In game one, the Bulldogs had an opportunity to lock the Gamecocks out, but a seven-pin left the door open. Jax State took advantage and struck out to take the game 194-192. The Bulldogs could only get four strikes in the second game and would fall 193-179.
Both teams found their mark in a high-scoring game three, with the Bulldogs coming out on top 250-243 behind the front six. Game four would be much of the same, but this time, a Tech split in the seventh would cost them a 234-222 loss.
With Jacksonville State needing just one more win, LA Tech had to find a way to win. They did just that, taking game five 211-200.
Even with the Bulldogs missing a seven in the sixth and five in the seventh, the Bulldogs had an opportunity to get a tie after the Jax State anchor left the nine in the 10th. Allie Leiendecker struck on the first two balls, but couldn't connect on the final one, Tech would fall 204-202.
UP NEXT
LA Tech will face the winner of St. Francis - Ill. and Maryvilley in an elimination match at 8:45 a.m. CT at Kingpin Lanes, live on BowlTV.com.
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