PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore finished the opening day of competition at the James Brown Invitational, at AMF Lanes in Towson, Maryland with a 4-1 record and stand in first place.

The Hawks opened the 5-game Baker competition with a win against Chestnut Hill (961-915) and then topped Caldwell University 1,028-890.

The Shore (47-30, 8-2 MEAC) dropped the third match of the day to Duquesne 1,021-963, but then closed out the day with wins against Felician (1,066-856) and Wilmington University (Delaware) in a tightly-contest 1,028-1,027 battle.

Freshman Chloe Skurzynski  (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) Paulina Torres (Ponce, Puerto Rico) and Cayla Hicks (Salem, Virginia) all carried a fill rate of more than 90 percent for 50 frames of Baker play.

The Hawks averaged a 201.8 and had a total pinfall of 5,046 — more than 200 pins ahead of second-place Duquesne.

"We had an 85.6 percent fill rate for the team, with a 47 percent strike percentage and 9.01 first-ball average," Hawks coach Kayla Bandy said. "The ladies did well today against opponents that showed up to bowl every set."