HARAHAN, La. — Mabel Cummins struck out in the 10th frame in the sixth game of the best-of-seven, giving Vanderbilt a thrilling victory over Sam Houston and sending the Commodores into Sunday’s championship match of the Southland Bowling League.
Cummins’ heroics set off a joyous team celebration and capped a gritty, come-from-behind Baker triumph 218-213 giving Vanderbilt the decisive fourth win. The Commodores had won a mega-match point in the opening team game and came up tantalizingly short of closing out the tough Bearkats in the 5-game Baker set, sending the semifinal battle into a best-of-seven.
Vanderbilt will face the winner of the Louisiana Tech–Sam Houston State game that will occur Sunday morning in the double-elimination tournament.
“There is still a lot of bowling to go,” said Vanderbilt head coach John Williamson, whose program is bidding for its third SBL championship.
Williamson said Cummins is learning the nuances of the anchor role.
“She’s adjusting to the anchor pressures,” he said. “She’s not 19 yet so she’s still going to make some mistakes. I think she got a little quick on her second ball in Game 5 – sped her process up a little. That’s something you have to learn in that position, the emotions, the adrenaline.
“Ultimately she’ll learn more from missing it than making it. Game 6 was much better than her first opportunity.”
As was the case in Friday’s opening two matches, Vanderbilt was sharp in every phase of its game and it needed to be in this high-wire test. It was bowling’s version of toe-to-toe, especially in the Baker matches where the Commodores showed remarkable focus and resilience in the face of repeated Bearkat strike barrages.
Vandy had a 19 pin lead heading into the fourth game of the set which is decided by total pins in all five games. That advantage was blown away by Sam Houston’s potent 279 which gave the Kats a seemingly insurmountable lead going into Game 5.
Sam Houston had lane choice because it was leading and naturally stayed where it was.
“It turned out we actually liked the right lane better,” Williamson said in spite of the Bearkats monster game on the left lane. “We wanted the right lane if it got to Game 7. We didn’t think the lanes were that different. We told our girls that we wanted to challenge the opponent.
“More times than not a team is not going to repeat a number like that on the same lane. I thought if we could double up front that we’d put pressure on them but they are very good and made good shots.”
Vanderbilt responded with a memorable rally, striking in nine of the first 10 frames. Suddenly and improbably, Vandy was on the verge of overcoming the 47 pin deficit if Cummins could double in the 10th.
As the facility drew quiet, the sophomore anchor struck on her first ball. With tension rising, Cummins’ next shot left a two-pin split, allowing SBL Player of the Year Denise Blankenzee to strike out and claim the precious mega-match point.
For the record, both teams shot over 1,100 – the final score 1,108-1,101.
Vanderbilt has stuck with the same rotation that found its mojo Friday – Angelica Anthony, Jennifer Loredo, Angelique Dalesandro, Caroline Thesier and Cummins. They remained dialed-in during the best of seven.
Sam Houston took the first game but Vandy stormed back to win the next three. The Kats won Game 5, setting up the wild Game 6 finish that appeared to most onlookers to be headed to a Game 7.
“We felt pretty good about what we were doing,” Williamson said. “We thought they were going to have to repeat what they just did. The last two days we bowled at a certain level and if we bowled at that level again we had a very good chance of coming out on top.
“We knew what we were going to do and so there was a level of confidence of how it was going to unfold. And if they could repeat their score, they would deserve to win.”
There was not a leak link in the Vandy chain Saturday. Spare shooting was suburb – just four missed-makeables over the 160 frames. Freshmen Loredo and Thesier sparkled and Anthony was excellent in her lead-off role.
“What we lose in experience we make up for in grit,” Williamson said when reflecting on the youth of his lineup. “Those two freshmen have guts to make shots so it makes it easier. You can take some of their mistakes because you know they will make a shot around the next corner.”
Sunday’s title game carries an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship and stating a starting time is not possible. Like the second game of a baseball doubleheader, the game will start 20 minutes after the Tech-Sam Houston match which begins at 8 a.m.
All matches will be streamed on Inside Bowling’s YouTube page.
