LAS VEGAS — The Louisiana Tech bowling team dropped the opening round match against Pikeville in the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championship at South Point Bowling Plaza on Thursday.
 
Louisiana Tech struggled early on, throwing a 658 for the first four Baker games of the day. After another low game to start the second set, the Bulldogs began to pick up momentum with a 716. They followed that up with a 760 before throwing their highest set of the day at 852 to start the back half of qualifying. LA Tech stayed in the plus at 803, but after jumping from 16th to 11th, the 'Dogs fell back a couple of spots to 13th. They would finish with a 760 to qualify as the 14th seed.
 
Tech's spare shooting would hurt them in a 4-3 loss to Pikeville. The Bulldogs had five opens in the first game and fell behind 1-0. However, they would bounce back for 211 and tie the match up. Pikeville would take a 2-1 lead after LA Tech could only get three strikes in the third.
 
The fourth game was a battle and came down to the 10th frame. After both teams split within the first three frames, Tech took the lead after an open by Pikeville. The Bulldogs would spare and have a double heading into the 10th, while the Bears had a four-bagger after the open going into the final frame. Tech would go first and split, almost securing the win for Pikeville. However, the Bears split themselves, and because the Bulldogs had a higher pin count, they came away with the win and tied it up at two games apiece.
 
The left lane continued to be the winning lane, with Pikeville winning the fifth and Tech winning the sixth. With the Bulldogs behind halfway through game six, Tech strung together six in a row to come away with the 252-236 win to force the deciding game seven.
 
Two opens by the 'Dogs in the first half would be too much for Tech to overcome as Pikeville started with the front four and took game seven.
 
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will take on Judson in an elimination match starting at 9:45 a.m. CT tomorrow at the South Point Bowling Plaza live on BowlTV.
 
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