TOPEKA, Kan. – [Men’s Scores & Bracket – Women’s Scores and Bracket] Competition at the 2019 NAIA Men’s and Women’s Bowling Invitational began on Thursday with six rounds (four games) of Baker play. After nearly six hours of bowling, the men and women of Indiana Tech earned the top-seeds in bracket play.

The women of Indiana Tech had a pin total of 4756 on the day in 24 games, an average of 198.16. Second-seed Pikeville (Ky.) started out slow but came on strong. They began the day with an average of just over 180 after the first two sets but picked it up for a final pinfall of 4592 (191.33 avg.). The Bears made the biggest move of the day going from eighth to second and edged third-seed SCAD Savanah (Ga.) by 30 pins (4562, 190.08 avg.).

Rounding out the top four, Midland (Neb.) earned the final first-round bye. The Warriors also started slow but picked up as the day went on and finished with a score of 4478.

On the men’s side, Indiana Tech ran away from the competition as well with strong, consistent play throughout the day. The team finished with a pinfall 5161, which was 130 pins ahead of second-seed William Penn (Iowa) who finished with 5031.

Hastings (Neb.) made the biggest jump on the men’s side going from seventh place, after two sets, over the final four Baker sets.

Concordia (Mich.) joins Indiana Tech, William Penn, and Hastings in earning first-round byes for bracket play. The Cardinals finished with a total pinfall of 4859 as they edged out St. Francis (Ill.) by three pins for the fourth-seed.

Match play will begin on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. with teams competing in a best-of-five Baker set in a double elimination bracket. You can watch the action live HERE