LIMERICK, Pa. - The LIU Brooklyn bowling team didn't miss a beat on Friday, starting the second half of the season with a victory over No. 5 Sam Houston State, which led to a 3-2 mark on the opening day at the Kutztown University Invitational, in Limerick, Pa. The Blackbirds head into Saturday's traditional format (10 a.m. start) in 11th place with a 195.5 average, as the meet continues before finishing up on Sunday morning.
Both LIU and SHSU struggled to start off the morning match, with the Blackbirds taking a 20-pin lead, 150-130. Then the two teams went back and forth in games two through five, 193-200, 205-147, 188-204, before LIU came through big in the fifth and final game, 242-198, to take the match 978-879.
In match number two, the Blackbirds were topped by Medaille, 1051-942, despite two 200+ games. The five game match scores were 179-191, 212-204, 208-178, 174-254 and 169-224.
Next up was the middle match, as the No. 18 Blackbirds threw a 256 in game one en route to a 1049-948 baker win over Youngstown State. LIU only one one of the other four games in the baker match, going 256-163, 172-194, 217-179, 197-197 and 207-215, to still win by 101 total pins.
LIU also drew No. 3 Vanderbilt on the day, in a field including twenty of the top 25 teams in the country, amongst 28 teams, including all seven Northeast Conference members. The Commodores came out on top, 1029-948, by game scores of 195-215, 189-214, 165-195, 185-191 and 215-214.
In the final match, LIU scored two 200+ games to top Wilmington, 971-941 to close out the day with a winning mark. Individual game scores against the Wildcats were 192-188, 162-214, 209-178, 193-172 and 215-189.
The Blackbirds schedule for Saturday includes four ranked opponents (in order): Howard, No. 4 Arkansas State, No. 6 Tulane, No. 12 Wisconsin-Whitewater and No. 22 Maryville to end the day before Sunday's bracketed playoff.