PBA ELIAS CUP SUNDAY 1 P.M.

Sunday on ESPN: Shipyard Dallas Strikers Begin Bid for Third Consecutive

Elias Cup; Hometown Favorites Face Philadelphia Hitmen

PORTLAND, Maine – The Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule rolls on Sunday with quarterfinal matches three and four from Bayside Bowl, featuring the two-time defending OceanView at Falmouth PBA League champion Shipyard Dallas Strikers meeting the GEICO NYC WTT KingPins followed by a match between the hometown favorite Port Property Management Portland Lumberjacks taking on the Sysco Philadelphia Hitmen. ESPN’s coverage begins Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

At stake are berths in the Elias Cup semifinal round for both winning teams. The Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters and the Barbasol Motown Muscle previously locked up their berths in the other semifinal match with victories over the OceanView at Falmouth Brooklyn Styles and the bowlingball.com L.A. X, respectively.

The Strikers, led by player-manager and reigning PBA League MVP Norm Duke, qualified seventh in the eight-team “seeding” tournament leading into the PBA League competition, and technically will be the underdogs against the KingPins, who qualified second. Duke’s Dallas Strikers teammates include PBA Tour champions Bill O’Neill, Rhino Page, Tommy Jones and PBA League rookie Kyle Sherman.

The KingPins are led by PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber, and will be seeking their second Elias Cup after winning the inaugural PBA League championship in 2013. The KingPins’ lineup also will include PBA Tour winners Marshall Kent and Anthony Pepe along with Australia’s Sam Cooley and BJ Moore, who bowled with the Elias Cup champion Strikers in both 2016 and 2017.

Quarterfinal match four will include the third-seeded Hitmen vs. the no. six Lumberjacks. The Hitmen, who have never advanced to the Elias Cup finals, include PBA Tour veteran champions Ronnie Russell, Chris Loschetter, Dom Barrett and Tom Smallwood along with 2017 PBA Rookie of the Year Matt Sanders. The Lumberjacks, last year’s runners-up, are anchored by former PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott. His teammates are PBA Tour titlists Ryan Ciminelli, DJ Archer and Kyle Troup along with newcomer Jojoe Yannaphon of Thailand.

Sunday’s competition will involve two best-of-two-game Baker format team matches, with a one-ball sudden-death roll-off deciding any ties. The winning teams will meet in the second semifinal round match that will air on ESPN on Sunday, May 6, at 1 p.m. ET.

The 2018 Elias Cup and Mark Roth PBA League MVP will be decided on ESPN on Sunday, May 13, at 1 p.m. ET. The new Elias Cup finals format will include two best-of-two-game Baker format team matches which presents the potential for a maximum of seven one-ball sudden-death roll-offs to decide ties.