Men's and women's bowling each earned the No. 4 seed for match play at the Mid-States Intercollegiate Championships October 18-19 in Wichita, Kansas. The Lady Lions advanced to the semifinals before being knocked out by the eventual tournament winner while the Lions fell in the quarterfinals.

The women's squad had a solid start on Saturday, posting 914 in the first of six team games. The Lady Lions then exploded for 1057, the second highest game shot all day. That vaulted them into second place, just 40 pins behind Wichita State, the event leader at the time, but a rotation to the other end of the center changed momentum quickly. Lindenwood struggled the rest of the day with two games in the low 900's and two in the 800's. With a total of 5504, the Lady Lions sat in fourth place heading into 16 baker games on Sunday.

It was a similar story as Lindenwood started well, immediately shooting two games over 200 on the way to an opening four-game set of 786, but the next pair caused more struggles and the Lady Lions needed a 209 finish to post 707 in the next set. By that point, Lindenwood was 160 pins behind Oklahoma Christian in third and over 200 ahead of McPherson College in fifth. Sets of 755 and 774, which included high games of 223 and 222 solidified the fourth-place position in the field of 24 teams. The Lady Lions had the second highest baker total at 3022 (188.88 average) and a grand total of 8526, finishing 157 pins behind Ottawa (Kan.) University in third and 354 ahead of McPherson in fifth.

As the No. 4 seed, Lindenwood faced those Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of best-of-five baker match play. The Lady Lions cruised to a 210-159 victory in game one but had to fight for a tough 202-195 win in game two. Game three proved to be close as well, but Lindenwood closed out McPherson 205-200 to advance to the semifinals.

The Lady Lions earned a match against top seed Sam Houston State. The Bearkats had finished over 500 pins ahead of Lindenwood, so advancing to the finals was not going to be easy, and that was made even harder by a poor start and a game one loss 201-145. The Lady Lions rebounded nicely in game two, but some tough carry midway through the contest left Lindenwood just short in a 200-195 loss. Facing elimination, the Lady Lions were good, but not good enough and they fell 203-183. Sam Houston went on to win the tournament 3-2 over No. 6 seed Newman.

In the men's field of 29 teams, the Lions posted the second highest score in game one with 1012, but that would be their highest of the day until the last game. With scores of 964, 970, 994, and 977, Lindenwood was consistent on Saturday, but fell back to sixth in the standings over 400 pins behind Wichita State at the top. A final score of 1034 in game six, which included a 300 game from senior Emmanuel McPherson, moved the Lions up to fourth with a grand total of 5951. While the Shockers still maintained a big lead, the Lions had closed the gap on second place Newman only 171 behind, and third place Southern Nazarene only 61 behind.

Much like Saturday, Lindenwood started Sunday's baker play in consistent fashion, posting sets of 802, including games of 234 and 231, and 766. The Lions still slipped a spot in the standings to fifth, but they immediately followed with their best performance of the weekend. With games of 222, 247, 258, and 207, Lindenwood totaled 934 in set three and jumped all the way to second place, overtaking Newman by two pins. The Lions were unable to keep that pace, however, and finished with only 715 in set four. With a baker total of 3217 (201.06 average), Lindenwood had bowled the fourth highest score in the field but slipped back to fourth. With a grand total of 9168, the Lions finished only 111 pins behind Newman in second, just 37-pins behind Baker in third, and a single pin ahead of Oklahoma Christian in fifth.

As the No. 4 seed, Lindenwood faced the No. 5 seed Eagles in the quarterfinals of match play. Unfortunately, that match went very much like the final baker set of qualifying. After losing a very tight game one 197-192, the Lions weren't even close in the next two, falling 186-134 and 238-167 to end their tournament weekend.

Individually, McPherson's perfect game propelled him up to third place in the field of 316 players. With a total of 1345 (224.17 average), he earned one of five spots on the All-Tournament Team. Mike Anderson totaled 1177 (196.17 average) to finish 34^th. Luke Batchelor averaged 197.2 for five games, Kaden Lansford averaged 205.25 for four games, and Christian Petersen averaged 192.5 for four games to help the Lindenwood cause.

In the women's field of 180, Hailey Bozych finished fourth with a total of 1247 (207.83 average) to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Younger sister and freshman Amber Bozych took 34^th place with a total of 1065 (177.5 average). Isabelle Fletcher averaged 189.33 for three games and Maddie Millsaps averaged 184.67 for three games to help the Lady Lions.

Men's and women's bowling continue their stretch of six tournament weekends out of seven at the Jayhawk Challenge October 25-26 in Lawrence and Topeka, Kansas.