FORT WORTH, Texas (Oct. 12, 2019) – Oklahoma Christian rallied during Baker-game play for a fourth-place finish in the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Circuit I tournament on Saturday at Cityview Lanes.

Competing in the opening tournament of their second season, the Eagles stood fifth among 14 teams after five team games with a score of 4,420, but jumped a spot with a good run during the tournament's 12 Baker games to finish with a score of 6,785.

OC finished behind Wichita State at 7,596, Newman (Kan.) at 7,168 and Baker (Kan.) at 6,835.

"The guys got off to a slow start and dug a hole early," OC coach James Hayes said. "We just didn't execute on shots very well. It was pretty much a grind all day. We really came together and staged a nice little run in Baker and had a shot to move all the way to third going into the last game but fell a little short. The execution and spare game was much better in Baker.

"We definitely had some nerves going on out there today. A fourth-place finish in a strong field is not bad way to start, but we left a lot of pins out there today. We will need to regroup tonight and see if we can execute better and make a run for the top tomorrow."

Sophomore Jacob Hastings of McKinney, Texas, was OC's top player, finishing 24th among 142 players with a score of 908 in his five individual games. His high game was a 197 in game four. Sophomore Josh Imhoff of Cabot, Ark., rolled the Eagles' top game, a 233 in game two, and placed 25th at 905.

The six other Eagles on this week's varsity roster each rolled at least one game. Sophomore Leotis Johnson Jr., had a high game of 193 and a four-game score of 694 (good for 76th place), while Sam Butler's best game was a 180. He finished 80th with a 676 score over four games.

Freshman Michael Gredler had the Eagles' second-highest game, rolling a 225 in game three.

OC will return to action Sunday, playing the SWIBC II tournament, also at Cityview Lanes.