Erie, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford bowling team faced tough competition on Sunday, the second day of action at the Mercyhurst Invitational. The Panthers lost their first four Baker matches of the day but were able to upset William Smith in the placement match to move into 7th place.

The Panthers started the day with a matchup against the hosts. The Panthers posted a strong final score of 835, but could not keep up with the Lakers who finished at 1041. The Panthers' high game of the match was the 5th when they scored 198.

Things did not get any easier for the Panthers in their second match, as they faced Division I Mount St. Mary's The Panthers rolled to a score of 952, one of the highest 5-game Baker scores in program history. Unfortunately, it was not enough to topple their opponents, who finished at 1022.

The third match of the day was against Daemen. The Panthers won 4 of 5 games in the match, but the deficit in the loss was too great and they fell 833-861. They won the first match 163-160 but followed it with a 154-199 loss in the second. They trimmed the deficit with a 176-167 win in the 3rd and a 169-166 victory in the 4th game. Needing a victory by 31 pins in the 5th, the Panthers were able to take the game, but only by a margin of 2 pins.

In the final round-robin match of the event, the Panthers fell 803-963 to William Smith. They got off to an early lead with a 193-160 win in the first game, but over the next three games struggled while their opponents posted scores over 200 pins. They won the final game 181-168.

The event moved into the placement round, and the Panthers faced William Smith in a rematch. Rather than the 5-game total pinfall format of the round-robin, placement would be decided by a best of 7 series. Pitt-Bradford got off to a great start, winning the opening game 200-188 and the second 174-153. After dropping the third game 159-166, the Panthers bowled their best game of the day to win game 4 213-147 and take a 3-1 lead. They could not close the match in game 5, falling 168-181, but secured the victory in the sixth with a 178-172 victory.

The Panthers will return to action next weekend, as they will head to back to Erie to compete in the Grapevine Invitational, hosted by Penn State-Behrend.