NCAA Championship - Day Two Results

THE RUNDOWN
EUGENE, Ore. -- Baylor's Laura Lonardi remained tied for 19th place after shooting even-par 72 in Saturday's second round at the NCAA Women's Golf Championship. The senior from Verona, Italy, who is competing as an individual in the tournament, stands at 1-under-par 143 through two rounds at Eugene Country Club.

Lonardi started her round on the first tee and made six consecutive pars before recording a birdie on the 474-yard, par-5 seventh hole. After two more pars, she took the turn at 1-under-par, and she ran her streak to five straight pars before making a bogey on the par-4 13th hole. After another par on No. 14, Lonardi made a birdie on the 510-yard, par-5 15th hole, then made pars on Nos. 16 and 17 before a bogey on the par-4 18th hole to finish her round at even-par 72.

Sunday's third round begins at 9:30 a.m. CT, and Lonardi is slated to tee off at 10:25 a.m. CT from the first tee. She'll be paired with Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho and California's Marianne Li. The 24 teams and 12 individuals will be narrowed down to the top 15 teams and the top nine individuals whose teams weren't in the top 15 following Sunday's round. Those 84 players will play a final round of stroke play on Monday to determine the NCAA Championship medalist. Lonardi is currently tied for fourth among players whose teams aren't in the top 15 following the second round.

Lonardi is tied for second among the 12 players competing only as individuals, trailing only Wake Forest's Kupcho (-2) by one stroke. She's tied with California's Lee (-1) and Purdue's August Kim (-1).

HIGHLIGHTS
- Lonardi is tied for 16th in the 132-player field in par-5 scoring at 3-under 4.63.
- Lonardi is tied for 33rd in par-3 scoring at even-par 3.00.
- Lonardi is tied for 37th in par-4 scoring at 2-over 4.10.
- Lonardi is tied for ninth in the field with 27 pars over 36 holes.
- Lonardi was one of 30 players to make birdie on the par-5 15th hole on Saturday.
- Lonardi was one of 48 players to make birdie on the par-5 seventh hole on Saturday.

STAT OF THE DAY
18 -- Laura Lonardi is one of 18 players in the 132-player field to shoot par or better in both of the first two rounds at the NCAA Championship.

TOP QUOTE
"She scrambled, but that's National Championship golf. They have a hard golf course in front of us," head coach Jay Goble said. "This game is funny because I really think she played better today, but her score was better yesterday. She's hanging in there and fighting for every shot, and I like her chances on the weekend, because this is a good golf course for her and she hasn't played her best golf yet this week."

WHAT'S NEXT
Sunday's third round starts at 9:30 a.m. CT. Lonardi will begin from the first tee at 10:25 a.m. in a pairing with Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho and California's Marianne Li. Following Sunday's round, the field will be narrowed from 132 to 84 players, with only the top 15 teams and top 12 individuals whose teams aren't in the top 15 advancing to Monday's final round of stroke play to determine the NCAA Championship medalist. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the year.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

EUGENE, Ore. - Laura Lonardi refuses to let the tough layout at Eugene Country Club get the best of her.

For the second straight day, the Baylor senior stayed out of trouble for the most part and had a couple impressive par-saving putts to shoot even-par 72 in Saturday's second round and remain tied for 19th at the NCAA Championship at 1-under 143.

"She scrambled, but that's National Championship golf," Baylor coach Jay Goble said. "This game is funny, because I really think she played better today and her score was better yesterday. She's hanging in there and fighting for every shot. I like our chances on the weekend because I know this is a good golf course for her and she hasn't played her best golf yet."

Breezing through the front nine, Lonardi carded six straight pars before a birdie on the par-5 seventh and making the turn at 1-under 36, moving into the top 10 at one point.

One of her only trouble spots came at the par-4 13th hole, when Lonardi missed the green with her approach shot and duffed a chip shot before getting up and down for a bogey.

Lonardi got that one back with a birdie on the par-5, 510-yard 15th, when she had a short approach shot and backed it up to within a few feet and rolled in the putt. On the next hole, she left a 12-footer from the fringe just inches short.

"Of course, you want to make all the putts you're putting," Lonardi said, "but that's not going to happen. So, you just have to live with it That happens, sometimes."

Flirting with danger on the par-5 17th, she rolled a birdie putt about 10 feet past the hole, but made the one coming back to save another par. Bogeying the 18th for the second day in a row, Lonardi failed to get up and down from a difficult spot and had to make a four-footer just to keep a bigger number off her card.

"It wasn't my best golf," she said. "I didn't play that bad, I just missed a couple shots here and there, and it cost me a lot. And then I didn't get super lucky with my putting. Some of them were really close to going in and didn't. . . . Around even par on this golf course, which is really tough, is always a good round."

Miami's Dewi Weber is the 36-hole leader at 9-under 135 after shooting 6-under 66 in Saturday's second round despite bogeys on the last two holes. Tennessee's Anna Newell is just one shot back in the medalist race, with Lonardi currently tied for fourth among players whose teams aren't in the top 15.

After Sunday's third round, the field will be narrowed to the top 15 teams and top nine individuals not on one of those teams. Lonardi is also second among the 12 players competing as individuals, trailing Jessica Kupcho of Wake Forest by one shot.

"I haven't looked at the leaderboard yet, but I would think she's probably in there right now," Goble said. "We're just going to keep hitting one at a time the next two days, and hopefully we're going to get there."

Paired with Kupcho and Cal's Marianne Li, Lonardi will start on No. 1 and tee off at 10:25 a.m. CDT. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.