He was undefeated on the second day

Woodbridge, Virginia – Vanderbilt cruised through the team’s five-game unbeaten run Saturday in the Hawkeye Classic and resides in third place after two days of playoffs. Vanderbilt will play North Carolina A&T in another playoff game on Sunday before two of Baker’s best-of-seven games are settled in the final standings. Jacksonville State and Youngstown State finished Saturday in the top two.

Results remained high across the board – as expected – with the Commodores getting big efforts from everyone in the rotation at one time or another but rarely getting it all at once. In fact, the norm for the day was a big three-point lead as the Dorries beat 25th-ranked Merrimack, 11th-ranked Duquesne, 18th-ranked Mount Saint Mary’s, 12th-ranked Maryland Eastern Shore and 15th-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson. . Three of Vandy’s five games were north of 1,100.

“It was another good day,” head coach John Williamson said. “We knew all our matches were probably going to be close, and we were right. It’s hard to get separated in those situations, but we hit good shots when it mattered. I was really pleased that we finally got a decent 10th frame (against Farley Dickinson). We were talking about finishing strong and it was good to see that happen; it made a close match look a lot easier than it was.

The most interesting matches of the day were the clashes with Mount St. Mary’s and Farleigh Dickinson. In both games, scores soared as the teams traded blows as if on video boards.

Vandy’s rotation started against Mount St. Mary’s with Haley Lindley, Alyssa Ballard, Amanda Najokas, Victoria Varano and Paige Peters. Caroline Thessier homered in the sixth for Ballard. The Commodores were mainly pegged through the middle tires with Vandy managing to get very slight breathing room in ninth behind a steady drumbeat of hits. Naujokas – who finished with 247 – and Lindley, who added 242, were key but Peters contributed 219 and Varano with 216. It was not settled until halfway through the 10th, ending 1,103-1,083.

The finale of the day was against Farley Dickinson, another entertaining and historic match. Never before had two Commodores enjoyed scores of 279 and 278 in the same game but that is exactly what Varano and Thissier did in leading Vanderbilt to a 1,162-1,081 victory. The only difference in their total is that Varano hit her fill ball and Thesesier knocked down nine pins. Other than that, they each had one spare piece against a wall of strikes.

As for high-scoring threes… In the Merrimack match, Lindley and Ballard were matched with 236s and Najokas contributed with a 211. In the Duquesne match, Lindley was on the front nine on his way to a 267 with Peters coming in at 250 and Najokas at 223. In the Maryland match -Eastern Shore It was Naujokas with a flashy 245, Thessier at 238 and Varano at 224.

When bracket play begins, it will feature the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed with the two and three seeds meeting. This foreshadows the Vanderbilt-Youngstown State matchup except something unusual happens in the final team matchup as both teams have pin totals that would make a position change unlikely.

Play begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. CT on Bowl America and is broadcast on BowlTV.