JONESBORO, Ark. — Steady rolling and a clutch substitution vaulted the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) from fourth to second place overall at the Mid-Winter Invite, setting up a match-up on Sunday morning with the nation’s No. 1 team, Nebraska.
The Huskers held firm on their grasp of the top seed, while the Hawks climbed the ladder to second, both putting up high scores and both going 4-1 on Saturday. The two teams will face each other first thing in the bracket finals Sunday morning at 9:25 a.m. The winner gets a walk to the championship match, while the loser will try to fight their way back to it, guaranteeing a finish to worse than fourth.
UMES moved up behind the steady bowling of Mariana Alvarado and Thashaina Seraus, as they would finish with two day totals, in fourth and sixth places respectively. The big helper however was freshman Melanie Copey who subbed in for the third match of the day to roll the final three matches and post scores of 234, 192 and 192 again.
Birthday girl Tatiana Munoz was 15th overall in the field and tossed a 237 and three more games in the 200s for a very solid day.
UMES opened the day with a 964-951 win over Alabama State, led by Munoz with a 213 and Alvarado with a 201. They moved on to Jackson State, getting a 966-898 win behind Alvarado’s 227, Munoz’s 208 and Searus tossing a 202.
The biggest match of the day for the Hawks was up next, taking on the nation’s third-ranked team and host, Arkansas State. UMES stepped up when it mattered, throwing an impressive 1,153 to the Red Wolves’ 1,044. Seraus threw a 267, Munoz a 237 and Alvarado a 234. Copey, in her first action tossed a 223 while Victoria Jones added a 192 to complete the domination. UMES’ 1153 was the highest team game total of the tournament. Central Missouri also threw that score in their final match of the day. Seraus’s 267 was the highest game of any Hawk on the weekend and one of the best 10 games of the event.
The Hawks took a loss in the fourth match of the day, facing No. 13 McKendree. No Hawk managed 200 or better in the loss to McKendree, which might explain the outcome. Copey had a 192 to pace her team. Three McKendree bowlers handled the pattern well, posting scores in the 200s.
UMES wrapped up the day with a 1,051-850 thumping of No. 15 Valparaiso. Copey, posting the same 192, was low-Hawk, in an opposite outcome, while every other player was in the 200s, getting a 234 from Alvarado, 223 from Munoz, and a pair of 201 from Jones and Seraus.
Top-seed and top-ranked Nebraska tallied 10,413 pins over the two days while UMES finished with 9,966, 447 pins behind. The Hawks edged out third-place Central Missouri by 45 pins, while the host, ASU, posted 9,900 to finish fourth place.
Stephen F. Austin, Vanderbilt, who gave Nebraska their only loss of the event so far, UAB and Wisconsin-Whitewater finished Saturday fifth through eighth. McKendree, Sam Houston State, Tulane and Valparaiso went nine through 12 while Jackson State, Louisiana Tech and Alabama State rounded out the field 13-15.
UMES faces Nebraska at 8:25 a.m. central time, tomorrow morning, 9:25 in the east, in a best four-of-seven Baker match. The winner gets a bye into the championship match, the loser will face the winner of Central Missouri vs. Arkansas State. That winner of that match also goes to the championship match while the other two teams bowl for bronze.
UMES won the event in 2010 and 2008, took fourth in 2011 and 2009 and fifth in 2012, so they have already bettered their finish the last time they appeared in the event.