DEPTFORD, New Jersey — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore went 4-1 on the opening day of competition at the Northeast Classic, picking up victories against a pair of ranked teams. The Hawks (43-20, 6-2 MEAC) currently stand in 12th place in total pinfall with a five-game Baker average of 193.2 after Day 1.
"I don't know how to feel about today," Hawks coach Roger Petrin said. "We shot just 81% single-pin spares today and that's not good. But on the other hand we converted 65% of overall spares which includes splits. We shot very well minus single pins."
UMES opened the day with a 942-892 win against National Tenpin Coaches Association No. 6 Arkansas State. Next came a 996-935 decision versus No. 11 Maryville.
The No. 10 Hawks then picked up a pair of wins against New Jersey City College (978-895) and Mount Aloysius College (891-678).
"Yes today could have been a lot better, but we are fortunate that we didn't do a lot worse," Petrin said. "I was talking with the N.C. A&T State coach and they were 0-4 after their first four matches and they had a very similar day to us minus a 1060 in the last set. That pushed them to 7th. But we are only 201 pins out of fifth place."
The final match of the day saw UMES fall against Wilmington University (945-933).
"It's possible to get back in it," Petrin said. "And I feel really good about everyone who played today. Everyone bowled well, but not at the same time. That's what you need in Baker."
On Saturday, the draw is brutal as the Hawks will face: No. 19 Medaille, No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Stephen F. Austin, No. 4 Nebraska and No. 7 Youngstown State in Traditional matches.
"Maybe what we need is to see those teams, because we were really good at bowling our competition today," Petrins said. "TO get the scores maybe we need to see the other teams that are currently ahead of us in the rankings to push us for really good shots consistently."
