Nov. 22, 2015
MILLSBORO, DE—In a showdown for the Hawk Classic championship, Vanderbilt’s strike-throwers suddenly went as dry as grandma’s Thanksgiving turkey and as a result, settled for second place to Central Missouri Sunday afternoon.
The Commodores were cruising with a 3 games to 1 lead in the best-of-seven Bakers and had just beaten the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the semi-finals. In the fifth game, the strings of strikes that had propelled them to victories vanished into a haze of spares while the Jennies gained momentum with their own runs.
It came down to the seventh game where both squads struggled in the first five frames before Central found the sweet spot with a bowling-style turkey and went on to the title.
The Black and Gold used a rotation of Nicole Powell, Tori Ferris, Giselle Poss, Kristin Quah and Robyn Renslow the entire day.
The second place finish put a damper on what had been a good day. Vanderbilt had beaten fourth-seeded Monmouth in four straight and took down the top-seeded Sam Houston Bearcats, 4-3 with an outstanding final five frames to cap an excellent match.
Vanderbilt ended the Hawk Classic with a mark of 12-3, ending its fall schedule with a record of 40-15 and a display of consistency from tournament to tournament. The Commodores had one of the best tourney records in the country with one championship, two second-place finishes and a fourth.
Vandy is now off until January 15 when it travels to Arkansas for the Mid-Winter Classic.
