Baker University – Women’s Bowling Clinches Third Straight Conference Title at 2022 Heart Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa – Clinching their third straight conference championship, the Baker women’s bowling team took home first place on Sunday at the 2022 Heart of America Conference Championships, while the men took home fifth place.

The women posted a score of 4,756 in qualifying after 28 Baker games, to qualify in first place and receive a bye in the first round of bracket play. They then faced off with No. 4 Clarke in the second round. Baker won the first game, 216-193, and won game two, 223-187, before falling in game three, 192-164. Baker then bounced back in game four to win, 220-190 to advance to the semifinals where they would take on No. 3 William Penn.

Baker took game one over the Statesmen, 248-185, but then dropped game two, 193-165. After a strong 200-137 win in game three, WPU tied it up again with a tight 176-170 win in game four. Baker then finished things off with a 199-165 win in game five to earn a spot in the finals.

After the Statesmen worked their way back into the finals, Baker and William Penn faced off one final time. Baker started things off with a 174-167 win in game one and then extended their lead to 2-0 with a 192-148 win in game two. After WPU won game three, 191-170, Baker extended their lead to 3-1 with a 191-18 win.

William Penn then won the next two games by scores of 199-183 and 224-207 to force a seventh and final game to decide a champion. Baker then exploded in game seven with their highest score of bracket play, posting a score of 275 while WPU scored 201 as Baker clinched their third straight Heart of America Conference Championship.

Along with becoming conference champions, Baker’s Caitlin Lucas was named the 2022 Heart Women’s Bowling Player of the Year, while head coach Cheryl Keslar was named the Heart Women’s Bowling Coach of the Year.

Lucas and Kristina Harris each were named first team All-Conference honorees, while Hailey Howard earned second team honors.

On the men’s side, the Wildcats posted a score of 4,503 in the qualifying round and entered into bracket play as the No. 5 seed.

Baker was able to take the first round against No. 4 Peru State, but the Bobcats then won the next three games to send Baker to the loser’s bracket. The Wildcats then took on No. 2 Clarke, where they won the first game, 199-167. Clarke then won the next game and Baker took the third game 199-176 to hold a 2-1 lead. Clarke…