GREENVILLE, S.C. — The No. 9 Catawba College men's golf team fell victim to crucial miscues late in its medal match play semifinal matchup against Lincoln Memorial, bowing out of the South Atlantic Conference Championship with a 4.5-0.5 loss to the Railsplitters on Tuesday.
RESULTS
1. Morgan Cain (LMU) def. Allan Lockwood (CAT), 3 UP
2. Paul Esnault (CAT) tied Harry Dickins (LMU)
3. Wyatt Cochran (LMU) def. Ilia Antoniadis (CAT), 4 UP
4. Ryan Gavin (LMU) def. Connor Carter (CAT), 5 UP
5. Edward Mason (LMU) def. Alec Barker (CAT), 2 UP
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Lockwood turned around a rough 9-down start with a burning-hot front nine that included five birdies in a valiant comeback effort, but Cain did just enough to hold off the redshirt senior with a 71-74 edge
- Esnault was neck-and-neck with Dickins for the first half of the round, then took his first lead thanks to an 18th-hole birdie as the Railsplitter bogeyed; however, Dickins leveled it to post a stalemate at 75
- Antoniadis benefitted from Cochran having a disastrous start and carried a four-shot lead around the clubhouse, but the tables turned to the tune of an eight-stroke reversal to give LMU the point
- Carter had a slight upper hand around the halfway point but Gavin swung back and put it away with a birdie on No. 5 against the Catawba Indian's double bogey in an eventual five-shot defeat
- Barker and Mason were separated by no more than a stroke through the first eight holes before the latter went 3-up; Barker responded by erasing the deficit with a few holes to go, but a pair of bogeys made the difference in a 73-75 result
LMU advanced to the final round of medal match play, facing top-seeded Wingate for the SAC Championship crown.
UP NEXT
Catawba awaits confirmation on its at-large bid into the NCAA South/Southeast Regional field that will be revealed on Sunday, Apr. 26, on NCAA.com.
