Women's bowling finished first, taking the top spot by just one pin, while the men's squad took fifth at the Columbia 300 Western Shootout October 11-12 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In the first action of the 2025-26 season for Lindenwood, it took the Lady Lions a game to find their footing. After starting with 849 to sit in 10^th place out of 28 teams, they followed with games of 998, 965, 1012, 973, and 958. That moved Lindenwood up the standings throughout the day. With a Saturday total of 5755, the Lady Lions had taken over first place by 19-pins over Indiana Tech in second and 56-pins ahead of Rochester in third. In a closely packed field, the sixth-place team was only 99-pins behind.

Lindenwood returned to the lanes on Sunday for 16 baker games. After shooting an opening four-game set of 739, which included games of 206 and 205, the Lady Lions maintained the top position, but only by 42-pins over Missouri Baptist. Set two totaled 726, which allowed Rochester to take over the lead by just one pin. The biggest moment of the day came in the third set. Lindenwood fired games of 208, 252, 197, and 181 for a total of 838. That vaulted the team back into first place by 95-pins ahead of the Warriors. The Lady Lions ended up needing every bit of that advantage after finishing with a set of 706. With a grand total of 8764, Lindenwood edged Rochester by a single pin. Tennessee Wesleyan took third with 8715, followed by Indiana Tech in fourth with 8710, and Missouri Baptist in fifth with 8639.

In the men's field of 29 teams, the Lions started well on Saturday, posting a game one score of 1119 to sit in third place. Lindenwood maintained a strong pace in the following two games with 1046 and 1055 and stayed in the top three, but games four and five were a struggle. After 966 and 934, the Lions slipped to seventh place before rebounding in the final game of the day with 1121. With a day one total of 6241, they sat in fifth place, just 202 pins behind leader Trine University.

Lindenwood had a good start to baker play on Sunday. With games of 210, 233, 197, and 210, the set of 850 propelled them up a spot in the standings. Another strong set followed with 805, but the wheels came off in set three and the Lions fell back to fifth, dashing any hopes of making a final run at the lead. Lindenwood recovered in the final set to shoot 828, including a high baker game of 234. With a grand total of 9389, the Lions finished fifth 110 pins behind Purdue in fourth. Marian (Ind.) claimed the title with 9827, followed by McKendree, and Trine.

The Lions claimed the top two spots individually in a field of 288 players. Emmanuel McPherson won the singles title with a six-game total of 1425 (237.5 average), including high games of 256, 247, and 235. Teammate Mike Anderson finished second with 1395 (232.5 average) including games of 277, 255, and 245. Tyler Amos only missed the top-five All-Tournament Team by 14-pins as he totaled 1354 (225.67 average) to finish seventh. Drew Mirly was right behind him in eighth with 1340 (223.33 average). Charlie Burns tied for 36^th place with 1259 (209.83 average). Freshman Shane DeRego averaged 228.5 for four games and Jonathan Becker averaged 205 for three games to bolster the Lion's effort.

In the women's field of 228, Hailey Bozych finished fifth with 1266 (211 average) to earn the final spot on the All-Tournament Team. She had high games of 249 and 228. Isabelle Fletcher took 14^th place with 1180 (196.67 average), Liz Rittenour finished 26^th with 1134 (189 average), Alyssa Hessler claimed 30^th with 1120 (186.67 average), freshman Amber Bozych took 37^th with 1100 (183.33 average), and Julia Smith finished 45^th with 1062.  Carissa Merkle averaged 196.67 for three games to help the Lindenwood cause.

In other action at the event, Lindenwood claimed the men's junior division title with a total of 9386, topping second place Calumet College of St. Joseph by 219-pins. The Lady Lions finished third in the women's junior division just 228 pins behind winner Marian (Ind.).

The bowling teams continue a busy stretch of tournaments with the Mid-States Championship October 18-19 in Wichita, Kansas.