Both the men's and women's bowling teams took home titles at the 15^th Annual Hammer Lions "Match Play" Classic October 28-29 at St. Charles Lanes in St. Charles, Missouri. It was the second year in a row that both squads claimed the top spot.

The Lions jumped out to a great start during the team game block on Saturday, firing games of 1160, 1122, and 1092. With a total of 3374, that put Lindenwood in a solid position for 10 sets of round-robin baker play.

The Lions continued their torrid pace with eight games of the 16 bowled on Saturday above 200, including a high of 276, but Lindenwood ran into some tough opposition and finished the day with a record of 5-3 to sit in third place. The Lions continued their strong performance in the final two round-robin matches Sunday morning with four straight games in the 200's including highs of 236 and 258. Lindenwood finished baker competition with a total of 4230 (211.5 average) and an overall total of 7604 to top the men's field. With a final round-robin record of 7-3, the Lions earned the No. 2 seed and a first round bye for double-elimination match play.

After sitting out the first round, Lindenwood ended up facing No. 3 seed Missouri Baptist in the second round. The Spartans were coming off of a 2-1 win over Central Methodist during which they averaged 214, but they couldn't continue their momentum. The Lions were able to dispatch Missouri Baptist in two straight 226-194 and 222-170.

After earning another bye to wait for the other side of the bracket to come around, the same Spartans emerged for a rematch. This time, they were able to continue momentum from the previous round and quickly put Lindenwood behind with a 257-213 victory. It looked like Missouri Baptist might sweep earn a sweep in a close game two, but the Lions rallied to even the match with a 205-195 win. Lindenwood carried that success into the deciding final game and advanced 212-186.
 

That set up a rematch of two long-time rivals as No. 1 seed McKendree awaited for the best-of-five championship match, and it proved to be an epic battle with each game going down to the last frame or two. The Lions took an early lead in the opening contest and held on for a 212-202 win and while close, it appeared that game two would go the way of Lindenwood, but a 4-9 split in the 10^th frame flipped the outcome for a 194-190 Bearcats victory and a tie match. Game three went back and forth and it came down to the final frame where the Lions anchor delivered a clutch double to secure a 215-204 win. Game four set up the same way, but this time, a Lindenwood open in the final frame gave McKendree an opportunity and the Bearcats took advantage with a 213-201 victory to tie the match once again. In a deciding game five, the Lions sprinted to the end to post 214, so McKendree knew exactly what needed to be done, but a big split in the eighth frame gave Lindenwood the win and the championship 214-179.

On the women's side, the Lady Lions had one of their best performances of the season to date. After three games in the 900's including a season high 998 in game two, Lindenwood totaled 2888, but the best was yet to come in baker play. The Lady Lions broke the 200 mark 11 times in 20 games, including a six-game stretch that included scores of 201, 220, 266, 225, 200, and 257 (228.17 average). When the baker block was over, Lindenwood had posted a total of 4020 (201 average) and a grand total of 6908.

That earned the Lady Lions the top seed for the best-of-five championship match against No. 2 Missouri Baptist. After handling the Spartans in game one 223-165, game two was much closer. Both teams finished well, but Missouri Baptist tied the match with a 223-213 victory. The next game was close throughout and came down to the final frames with Lindenwood emerging with a 196-185 win. It appeared that the Spartans might even the match in game four until a late rally put the Lady Lions ahead for good. They finished with a 193-173 victory to seal the match.

Liz Rittenour led the women's field with a total of 625 (208.33 average) to claim the individual title and the top spot on the All-Tournament Team. Joining her with that honor were Hailey Bozych with 609 (203 average) for third place, and Samantha Smith with 592 (197.33 average) for fifth place. Carissa Merkle finished seventh with 565 (188.33 average).

In the men's standings, Emmanuel McPherson led the Lions with 736 (245.33 average) to take second place and earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Joining him were Tyler Amos in third with 717 (239 average) and Nathan Bassford in fifth with 692 (230.67 average). Blake Reiger took seventh with 685 (228.33 average) and Luke Batchelor was 10^th with 669 (223 average).

In other action, the Lady Lions defeated Missouri Baptist three games to one in the junior division championship, shooting 233 in the clinching game.

Men's and women's bowling both travel to Comstock Park, Michigan for back-to-back events hosted by the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) November 3-4. Competition begins at 7:45 a.m. both Friday and Saturday morning.