FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. --- The Tusculum University women's bowling team finished 10th at the 2019 Hammer Bearcat Open on Sunday. The three-day, 17-team tournament was held at the St. Clair Bowl and hosted by McKendree University.
The Pioneers (11-14) went 1-2 on Sunday including a 4-1 victory over Valparaiso in a Baker-Playoff 7-Game Format. TU's losses both came against St. Francis-Brooklyn falling 4-2 in the first match and 4-2-1 in the final match of the weekend.
In Sunday's opener, Tusculum won the first game 233-200, but the Terriers followed with three straight wins to take a 3-1 lead in the match. TU posted a season-high 267 in the fifth game to trim the deficit to 3-2, but St. Francis won the sixth by a 213-190 margin to capture the match and avenge Saturday's loss to the Pioneers.
Tusculum faced another familiar foe in Valparaiso in Sunday's second contest. TU and Valpo met last Sunday at the Allstate Sugar Bowl College in New Orleans where the Pioneers were victorious. Tusculum repeated with a 4-1 win as the Pioneers posted scores of 212, 213 and 217 in three of the four games they won.
TU and St. Francis met again in a battle for ninth place and the two teams played to a 176-176 tie in the opening game. Tusculum won the second game 232-166 and St. Francis claimed the second 194-173 as the match was all square again at 1-1-1. The Pioneers edged the Terriers in the fourth game by just three pins (164-161) to lead 2-1-1. St. Francis snatched the momentum winning the next three games 221-209, 210-201 and 223-167.
Fourth-ranked Nebraska captured the tournament championship as they knocked off No. 12 Central Missouri in the finals. Host McKendree, the No. 2-ranked team in the country, claimed third place honors by defeating No. 18 Maryville (Mo.). Prairie View A&M finished fifth, followed by 10th-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater, No. 19 UAB, Lewis (Ill.), St. Francis-Brooklyn, Tusculum, Valparaiso, Kentucky Wesleyan, Augustana, Alabama A&M, North Central and Dominican (Ill.).
The Pioneers return to action in two weeks (Nov. 8-10) at Tusculum travels to Madison, Wisconsin for the Warhawk Classic.