The University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s golf team captured its first Great Lakes Valley Conference championship on Sunday, defeating Indianapolis 3-2 in the finals of medal/match play at Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru, Indiana. Emmy Wahl, Hillary Currier and Mayan Covarrubias each won their head-to-head matches against the top-seeded Greyhounds to lift the Tritons to the championship. Covarrubias rolled in the clinching putt from 8 feet away on No. 18 to seal her victory over Abby Stone by one stroke and trigger a celebration on the green with her teammates.
UMSL also beat third-seeded Maryville 3-2 in the medal/match play semifinals on its way to the title after getting match wins from Alaina Ervin, Wilma Zanderau and Covarrubias. The Tritons were in second place out of 13 teams after 54 holes of stroke play that concluded on Saturday. They posted a combined score of 910, 20 shots back of UIndy. Zanderau paced the Tritons and placed third overall in a field of 74 golfers with a stroke-play total of 221. She was named the GLVC Women’s Golf Player of the Year at an awards ceremony following the round. Currier tied for fifth with a total of 227. Hope Williams tied for 13th at 235, and Covarrubias and Ervin were a shot back in a tie for 20th. The Greyhounds’ Ava Ray was the individual medalist with a 54-hole score of 213 (68-71-74) and won by seven shots over her teammate Paige Giovenco. By winning the GLVC Championship, UMSL is assured of a place in the NCAA East Regional, which will be held May 4-6 at Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio. Coach Troy Halterman’s team was ranked fourth in the most recent NCAA East Regional rankings.
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The Tritons took three of four – including a pair of 10-inning victories – against Indianapolis during their weekend series at Bill Bright Field in Indianapolis. UMSL opened the series with a 7-5, 10-inning win on Friday night. Bennett Cagle doubled in Owen Faith for the go-ahead run in the extra frame and added an insurance run when he scored on Cade Grevengoed’s single through the left side. Faith also homered in the game.
The Tritons were shut out with only four hits in Saturday’s first game, a 3-0 Greyhounds victory. But UMSL bounced back with a 9-8 win in Saturday’s second game. Cagle hit a three-run home run in the second inning. Mitch Bonczkowski homered and drove in three runs. Justin Simard drove in Garrett Strenger for what proved to be the game-winning run for the Tritons in the top of the seventh. Sunday’s series finale also went to extra innings as UMSL pulled out a 10-7 victory. LJ Randle snapped a 7-all tie with an RBI single, and Justin Terhaar drove in two runs with an RBI single of his own. The Tritons (23-18, 17-7 GLVC) will take on NCAA Division I Lindenwood on Wednesday at the Lou Brock Sports Complex and will play host to Lincoln for a four-game series beginning Friday at the UMSL Baseball Field.
UMSL went 2-2 over the weekend, losing back-to-back games against fourth-ranked Indianapolis on Saturday but sweeping a doubleheader with Lewis on Sunday at the UMSL Softball Field. The Tritons dropped their opening game against the Greyhounds 5-1 after managing only five hits. Phoebe Miller drove in the lone run with a single in the sixth inning. The bats showed a little more life in Game 2, but UMSL still fell into a 10-2 hole. Kenzie Stoltz had a two-run single in the fifth, and Jamie Widule added an RBI single in the seventh, but it was not enough.
The Tritons took out some frustration on the Flyers on Sunday, combining for 26 hits and 20 runs while winning 13-2 in five innings in Game 1 and 7-4 in seven innings in the finale. Gracie Philpot homered and drove in four runs in the first game. May Pasqualini had two hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Pitcher Ashley Ware held Lewis to four hits and one earned run while striking out two in her five innings. Kaytie Kossina and Kiley Sullivan each had three hits, and Sullivan drove in three runs in Game 2. UMSL (21-19, 14-6 GLVC) will play host to Central Missouri in a nonconference doubleheader on Tuesday and will spend the weekend on the road with doubleheaders against Upper Iowa on Saturday and Quincy on Sunday.
The Tritons locked up a place in the GLVC Tournament after sweeping crosstown rival Maryville 7-0 in their Saturday dual at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. UMSL took all three doubles matches, including a 7-6 (3) win by Anna Favaron and Lauren Sweeney at No. 3. The Tritons were also unblemished in singles, though Hannah Tse, Millie Wileman and Giuliana Cunza each needed three sets to finish off their Saints opponents. Playing her final home match on senior day, Tse beat Isabella Alvarez 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. Wileman was a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 winner over Maria Mateos at No. 3 singles. Cunza topped Luana Luersen 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (2) at No. 6. Aleksandra Lopez, Morgan Lint and Favaron each won their singles matches in straight sets. The Tritons will close out the regular season at Illinois Springfield on Saturday. The GLVC Tournament gets underway May 2 at Center Grove High School in Indianapolis.
UMSL lost 5-2 in its Saturday dual against Maryville at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center. Tommy Griese and Daniel Berdecio both scored singles victories for the Tritons, with Griese winning his No. 1 singles match against Lorenzo Biava 7-5, 6-3 and Berdecio topping Markos Prentits 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. The Saints overwhelmed UMSL in the other four singles matches after narrowly claiming the doubles point courtesy of a 7-6 (6) win by Maksim Chernogorov and Luca Moribioli over Berdecio and Andrea Ricart at No. 3 doubles. The Tritons (3-10) have been eliminated from GLVC Tournament contention and will wrap up their season on Saturday at Illinois Springfield.
