MILLSBORO, Del. — On Saturday morning, Joseph Slowinski created a Game Day infographic with a photo from Tyra Sanchez's 300 game a season ago.
 
The Lincoln Memorial University Director of Bowling was clearly onto something as his standout sophomore shot her second NCAA perfect game of her career at the Hawk Classic in Millsoboro Del., versus No. 7 Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
"This morning I posted an infographic with Tyra's 12th shot of her 300 at the Big Red Invitational on March 3," Slowinski said. "Little did we know, she now has thrown two 300s in the exact same jersey. I am so proud of how mentally tough Tyra is when she has a good look on the lanes. With her second NCAA 300 in 37 weeks to the day, she is writing a special record book at LMU."
 
Sanchez, who was eighth of 111 bowlers with 1,058 pins and a 211.60 average through five games, paced the Lady Railsplitters in the second day at the highly-represented tournament.
 
No. 14 LMU came in with 4,942 pins through five baker matches under their belt from Friday, and added 4,823 more after five traditional matches for a total of 9,765 pins to move up a seed to sixth place out of 17 teams.
 
The Lady Railsplitters, who are averaging 195.30 pins per game, will carry their 5-5 record into the Sunday Championship best-of-7 format, where LMU will face fifth-place, No. 10-ranked Tulane.
 
In this position, the Lady Railsplitters could bowl their way into third place in a field consisting of six of the top 10, nine of the top 15 and 12 of the top 25 Division I-III teams in the nation.

"Witnessing Tyra shooting a 300 again is truly memorable and it pushes each of us to compete at the level we know we can compete," LMU sophomore Justine Brookover said. "Being in a position where we can finish third in a tournament with many top teams is a great feeling. It shows that we can compete with these teams".
 
"Very proud of our team to be preforming well at our last tournament of the semester," Sanchez added. "If we continue this momentum going into tomorrow, I have a great feeling we will accomplish a lot."
  
The Lady Railsplitters opened the second day with a narrow (923-940) loss to No. 4 Sam Houston before defeating St. Francis College Brooklyn (848-811) and No. 19 LIU Brooklyn (1,036-908) in back-to-back matches.
 
LMU then fell to the No. 7-ranked Maryland Eastern Shore in consecutive matches (922-996, 1,094-1,141), but took something greater away than the result in the final match of the day.
 
It was in the 1,094-1,141 loss in which Sanchez notched her second NCAA perfect game, propelling the Lady Railsplitters to an impressive match and tons of momentum heading into the best-of-7 Championship Sunday with a chance of a top-5 finish.
 
"What an exciting way to end qualifying with a 1,094 team game and a 300 game," Slowinski said. "I am proud of our resiliency and never-give-up attitude. Our positive attitudes keep us immune from the downs and is an awesome catalyst when we are bowling well.  
 
"We have an opportunity to end the first half with a third-place finish in a strong field. That is a great feeling." 
 
Along with Sanchez, the Lady Railsplitters had three other bowlers in the top 45. Sophomore Christine Hansen was 27th with a 195 average, while freshman Haley Youker was 32nd (192.20) and junior Marisol Dodson was 44th (185).
 
"No matter the ups and downs, we still have a chance for third, which is an amazing feeling in a field this good," Dodson said.