Women's Bowling Finishes Fourth, Men Take Sixth at Eagle Open

BELTON, Mo. – The Baker bowling teams started the new year competing at the Eagle Open in Belton, Mo. this past weekend.

The women started strong on Saturday, bowling five team games. They were able to put up game totals of 875, 803, 806, 867, and 851 for a total of 4,202. This put them in fourth place behind Columbia College, Grand View University, and Ottawa University.

The Wildcats were led by Kinsey Miller, who placed third overall out of 90 bowlers with a 188.4 average. Miller bowled her highest game in game four when she bowled 235. Baker's next highest finisher was Dylan Holmes, who averaged 163.8 for five games and finished 27th.

The women struggled to start on Sunday, but finished the day strong with baker set totals of 595, 701, 623, and 685 to bring them to a total of 6806, which was enough to qualify fourth for match play. Their first best-of-three match was against the fifth seed, Avila University. The women posted two excellent games, 205 and 224, to defeat Avila 2-0. Their next match came against the No. 7 Southern Nazarene University. The Wildcats posted scores of 150 and 154 to go 2-0 and move on to the championship match against Ottawa. In the best-of-five championship match, the women could not hold on and lost 3-1, taking the second game, 189-166.

On the men's side, the Wildcats had a slow start, posting a game one total of 863 which put them in 10th. Their next four games were 925, 970, 988, and 882 to bring their total to 4628 for day one and put them in seventh heading into Sunday. Individually, Tanner Eckerle led the team, placing 12th overall out of 128 bowlers, posting a total of 1011 for a 202.2 average. Eckerle's highest game was a 223, which he bowled in games 2 and 4. The next highest finisher for Baker was Josh King who averaged 187.4 for five games and finished 34th.

On Sunday, the men held their own during their 16 baker games to keep them in the top eight. Their four set totals were 795, 792, 698, and 734, which brought them to a total of 7650 for the tournament, which was enough to move them up to sixth. Their first match came against No. 3 Oklahoma Christian University. The men fought but came up short, losing the match 2-0.

Both teams will be back in action Feb. 3-4 at home in Lawrence, Kan., for the NAIA West Regionals with bowling getting underway at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday and 8:45 a.m. on Sunday.

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