The Sam Houston University Bowling team fell to the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs in the semifinal rounds after having an impressive run through the Southland Bowling League Championship in Harahan, Louisiana.
The Bearkats were the No. 5 seed coming into the tournament and looking to reclaim the crown they won in 2019.
Unbeaten on day one
The Bearkats went 2-0 to open up tournament play on Friday, defeating both No. 4 Youngstown State University Penguins and No. 1 seed Arkansas State University Red Wolves.
The Penguins were able to force a best-of-seven matchup after making a comeback for total pins in the second match. It took until game seven, but the Bearkats were able to out-duel the penguins defeating them 258-201 to move to the second round of the double-elimination tournament.
Sam Houston would then go on to cruise past the top-ranked Red Wolves. They were able to win the first traditional game having four of their five bowlers score over 200 points in their games. They would go on to defeat them in the second game again in a similar fashion and move on to a spot in the semifinals.
Bearkats fall to a familiar foe
Sam Houston lost in their first semifinals matchup against No. 3 Vanderbilt University Commodores after forcing a best-of-seven match against the school.
Junior Bea Hernandez shined on the day as her 279-point performance would help push the match to the best-of-seven series.
The Commodores took three of the first four games and ultimately defeated the Bearkats, to send them facing off against the Bulldogs in the final day of the tournament to fight for a spot in the finals.
Bulldogs pull off a narrow victory
The Bearkats second game of the semifinals was similar to their first matchup against the Commodores as the Bearkats would lose the first game but comeback to win the second game to send it to a best-of-seven matchup for a spot in the championship game.
Sam Houston was down 47 pins going into the final game of the second match but would prevail to score their second 279-point game of the tournament to give them the victory to go to the best-of-seven.
Just like the Commodores matchup, the Bulldogs took three of the first four games. The Bearkats, however, would not back down.
With the help of Hernandez moving to the anchor spot, the Bearkats would go on to win the next two games of the match to send it to a game seven. This was big in part due to Hernandez bowling lights out as she finished the tenth frame in each of the Bearkats victories during the best-of-seven.
These efforts would not be enough as the Bulldogs would win game seven with a 174-168 score, the lowest of the games. This was only the second game of the best-of-seven that did not have a 200-point performance from either team.
The Bulldogs will now move on to face the Commodores in the championship game. The Bulldogs will have to win two games to take the championship, as the Commodores have not lost a match yet in this double-elimination tournament.
