FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. — The Carthage women's bowling team placed 14th after five Baker matches at the Bearcat Hammer Open hosted by McKendree at St. Clair Bowling Center to kick off their 2021-22 season.

The Firebirds rolled 4,099 pins with an average of 164.0 amidst a highly competitive field of schools, which saw Arkansas State University (4,824 pins) take the lead after day one. Carthage is nested between familiar faces on the leaderboard, as they lead North Central in 15th and sit just below Carroll in 13th.

The team bowled a best of 913 in their third match of the day, while matches no. 2 and no. 5 both broke past the 800 mark as well.

Five traditional matches of the Bearcat Hammer Open are scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

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