By MSU Golf Staff for www.skyviewsports.net– EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan State women’s golf team shot the best round of the second day at the NCAA East Lansing Regional at Forest Akers West on Tuesday with a 4-under-par 284 to move into fourth place in the 12-team field.
The top-five teams in the three-day, 54-hole event will advance to the NCAA Championships.
MSU’s round of 284 was the best team score on Tuesday by four strokes and tied for the second-best single round by the Spartans in an NCAA Regional. Overall, MSU is 1-under-par at 575 (291-284) for the tournament.
The fifth-seeded Spartans made a strong charge to close out the back nine, collecting six birdies and an eagle among the four counting scores in the final six holes (No. 13-18).
“That was a lot better,” said MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll after the completion of the second round, as the Spartans went from a tie for sixth place to fourth on the team leaderboard. “I felt a little bit better walking off the 18th green (today). I can always sense that we can play better. When we do things that I feel like are mistakes, you want to try and eliminate as many mistakes as possible, so today was much better.”
Top-seeded USC continues to lead the regional with a 6-under-par 570 (281-289), followed by second-seeded Northwestern (284-288—572) and fourth-seeded Pepperdine (283-290—573). Florida, the No. 3 seed, is in fifth place (287-289—576), three shots ahead of sixth-place Denver.
Top NCAA Regional Stats by Par
The second round began at 8 a.m. under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-50s before rising to the high-60s midway through the round. The last three groups of the day played in rainy conditions to close the round.
A day after setting a Forest Akers West Course record with a 7-under 65, USC’s Bailey Shoemaker shot a 71 to remain in first place on the individual leaderboard at 8-under 136 (65-71) through 36 holes. Notre Dame’s Lauren Beaudreau is right behind at 7-under 137 (68-69).
Senior Leila Raines led the Spartans with her best round of the season, carding a 4-under 68, which also tied for the second best by a Spartan in an NCAA Regional. She jumped up 25 places into a tie for fifth place, fueled by a team-high five birdies in addition to an eagle on the par-5 13th hole.
“It went really well for me today,” said Raines, who is 3-under 144 (73-68) through two rounds. “I hit some really good iron shots and was able to make some longer putts today – that eagle on 13 obviously helped a lot. I had a few bogeys (three), on the par 3s we don’t want those, but grinded to get back and get some pars and birdies on the back nine.
“For me, I was just a little bit more consistent (today). I know a lot of the girls, we were leading with birdies yesterday, but we just had a few mistakes that put us a little lower on the leaderboard than what we would have liked. We just minimized those mistakes today.
“I think (Coach) was pretty confident in our team overall (going into today). We know this course so well that she wasn’t worried and knew we would be able to capitalize on the shots and make some birdies.”
“When Leila gets the putter going, that’s when she starts making birdies,” said Slobodnik-Stoll. “Leila had a day that she’s capable of doing.”
Junior Brooke Biermann also shot under par with a 71 and is tied for 12th place with a 1-under 143 (72-71). She was steady all day with 17 pars and a birdie on the par-4 16th.
Junior Katie Lu closed on a positive note with two straight birdies and was 1-over 73 in the second round; she is tied for 20th overall at 145 (+1).
Sophomore Paula Balanzategui shot even-par 72 for MSU’s fourth counting score of the day, while junior Shannon Kennedy recorded a 2-over 74. Balanzategui is tied for 24th place with a 2-over 146 (74-72).
“We’re just going to play like Spartans tomorrow and do the best we can, and see how the chips fall,” said Slobodnik-Stoll, as Michigan State looks to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row. “We can only control what we can do. Obviously, they’re feeling very confident in what they’re doing and what they’re capable of, and I can tell you this, we all want to be in California in two weeks (for the NCAA Championships).”
The third round of the three-day, 54-hole event, which is being held at the par-72, 6,370-yard Forest Akers West Course on the MSU campus, will start at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.