The Saint Francis University bowling team pulled even on the second day of their home tournament, going 3-2 on Saturday at the Red Flash Invitational at the Holiday Bowl in Altoona, Pa.

The Red Flash (36-40, 9-5 NEC) moved up to fourth place on the second day of the home tournament, improving their record to an even 5-5 against the field of 10 teams. Their current position gives them a shot at the tournament championship, which will be decided among the top four teams in the bracket round on Sunday.

HOW IT WENT DOWN
The Red Flash got off to one of the hottest single-match starts of this season, bowling a 1037 against Saint Vincent College. While that would be the highest match score of their home tournament up to that point, it barely put them over the Bearcats' pin total of 1019. Saint Vincent avenged the high-scoring loss by defeating the Flash in match three, 872-799.

Saint Francis posted two other wins in their second and fourth matches of the day, winning against Division III opponents Pitt-Greensburg and Mount Aloysius by more than 100 pins each match.

The final match turned out to be their most difficult opponent of the day, as No. 15 Mount St. Mary's gave them quite the challenge. While the Frankies were searching for any way to get ahead of the Mountaineers, the nationally ranked program tallied the highest-scoring match of the event to squash anything the Red Flash could put together.

It was another day of experimentation for fourth-year head coach Ashley Bingham, as six of the seven bowlers were used in different roles throughout the day. While both freshmen sat out the first match against Saint Vincent, first-year bowler Hayden Bennett came in and made the most of her opportunity. She was inserted into the second spot and comfortably competed there for two matches, then finished the final two matches of the day in the leadoff role.

Bennett's best performance came in the win over Pitt Greensburg, where she converted on nine of 10 frames and struck on four of the first five leadoff frames. Her consistency was one of the few bright spots down the stretch, and she hopes to build on the outing tomorrow.

SATURDAY RESULTS
Saint Francis 1037, Saint Vincent 1019
Saint Francis 865, Mount Aloysius 640
Saint Vincent 872, Saint Francis 799
Saint Francis 925, Pitt-Greensburg 819
No. 15 Mount St. Mary's 1057, Saint Francis 911

SUNDAY SLATE
Three best-of-seven baker matches in bracket format
Match 1: No. 19 Valparaiso

FOLLOW ALONG
The final day of the Red Flash Invitational begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with doors opening at 8 a.m.

The Red Flash Invitational, as well as tomorrow's awards ceremony, will be live-streamed on the team's Facebook page, and the latest updates will be posted on the team's Facebook and X pages.

For more information on the Red Flash, visit sfuathletics.com and follow RedFlashBowling on Facebook, Instagram, and X.