TOWSON, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore stands in first place in total pinfall after two days at the James Brown Invitational after a strong day of Traditional competition that saw the team go 3-1 and push their per game average to 199.1 over 10 matches and a bye.
"First place through two days is a good place to be," Hawks head coach Roger Petrin said. "But there is still one more Traditional match left and 200 pins isn't a comfortable enough lead."
The National Tenpin Coaches Association No. 10 Hawks (51-29, 6-2 MEAC) opened with a 998-750 win against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for Howard and then topped Alabama A&M 1031-920 before exploding for a 1,127-883 win against Fayetteville State.
"We feel good about today," Petrin said. "There were a couple of matches where we felt like we weren't bowling too great, but the scores are high and we are figuring out a way to put scores together. We feel like we are missing out on pins, but we also feel like we gained pins — clearly on everybody."
The Hawks then bowled a 963 against a bye and finished with a 950-929 loss to Saint Francis University as the lanes transitioned hard again on Day 2.
"We didn't really change too much of what we did from yesterday to today," Petrin said. "We made faster moves and we got into different shapes as the lanes transitioned. Pair-to-pair is really hard in this bowling center, so we had a lot of mental notes from Day 1 to Day 2 and we found that some of that held true today."
Senior Elizabeth Ross (Schenectady, New York) put up a five-game average of 215.0 and a high of 260 in the opening match of the morning. Classmate Brooke Roberts (Port Orange, Florida) finished with a five-game average of 202.4. Junior Alejandra Amezcua (Baja California, Mexico) put up a 193.6 average over five, buoyed by a 279 against Fayetteville State.
"Liz had a good day, Brooke had a good day, but honestly everybody I felt like had a fairly good day," Petrin said. "Alyssa Zombirt (Southaven, Mississippi) came in and had four strong games bowled and Brooke Driver (Woodbridge, Virginia) too especially to start. Everybody had a consistent day and we did a good job communicating the moves that needed to happen and everybody did their part when they did come in."
Freshman Alexis Ingersoll (Fulton, New York) put up a 210 in the final match of the day.
The Hawks will face MEAC rival and No. 24 Morgan State in the final Traditional match on Sunday before a one-match final based on seeding. They lead second place NC A&T State by 206 pins (9,953-9,747).
"(First Place) is a fun place to be in where we are," Petrin said. "Obviously, you cherish those moments because it doesn't happen as often as you'd like it to in this game unfortunately. It's not head-to-head really when you are bowling total pins you are talking about bowling 11 other teams in this event and in some events 20 other teams. It's not an easy thing being in first place."
