ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – College of Saint Mary held on to take fifth place at the Big Ole Open Sunday afternoon.

The CSM bowlers entered the second day of competition in fifth place after knocking down 3,738 pins on Saturday. The Flames then had 1,801 during the 12 Baker games on Sunday to finish with a two-day total of 5,539 – just one spot out of bracket play.

"Going into Bakers today we knew we had to bowl some strong blocks to close in on fourth place," CSM Coach Corrinne Johnson said.

CSM's Baker scores were 120, 166, 142, 181, 172, 143, 123, 148, 137, 140, 193 and 136.

Coe College had the highest overall total with 6,582, while Waldorf University was second with 6,312. Other team scores after Bakers were: Wartburg College (6,046), Iowa Central CC (5,976), Luther College (5,427), Iowa State University (5,350), Iowa Western Community College (5,309) and Hawkeye Community College (5,054).

"We started off with some challenges," Johnson said. "Madison (Barnes) lost a thumb slug two minutes into practice. With no luck being found in the back of the lane it left her with only one ball as an option for the rest of the tournament. That being said, she held her mental composure, made adjustments and was able to bowl strong as anchor for the last nine Baker games.

"Moving lanes made for a struggle for others. But, in the end, we held a 150 average for the day and fifth place as a finish overall. For the weekend I feel they bowled well. There were less nerves going into this tournament and their mental game improved from our first tournament."

Johnson hopes those improvements continue in November.

The Flames return to competition Nov. 1-2 at the Five Seasons Classic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.