OC Eagles rout Cameron, UT Tyler for Lone Star Conference championship
Thackerville, Okla. – Oklahoma Christian swept past Cameron in the semifinals and UT Tyler in the finals to win its second Lone Star Conference championship in impressive fashion Wednesday afternoon at WinStar Resort.
The Eagles opened the final four with a semifinal matchup against Cameron University. The semifinal and final were medal match play, which counted strokes, not holes won. OC won the medal match 4-0-1, with all four wins coming by two strokes or more.
Alejandro Armijo battled his way to a tie in a back-and-forth matchup that came down to the final hole, with Armijo tying Chris Somerfield at 1-under 71.
Oskari Nikku won his matchup with Preston Holmes 73 to 77.
Exequiel Rodriguez shot a 74 to win his matchup with Trevor Mierl by two strokes.
Mateo Pulcini shot a clean card, shooting 68 (-4) to win his matchup with Hamish Murray by four strokes, and Santiago Villareal also was 4-under, winning his matchup with Hunter Drotts by eight strokes.
In the other semifinal matchup, the four-seed UT Tyler took on the one-seed Midwestern State, and UT Tyler came away with the upset to advance to the championship match against the Eagles.
Oklahoma Christian started strong and finished strong, winning the championship matchup 4-0-1. OC’s wins were by three or more strokes, and three were by seven or more.
Armijo won by seven strokes, shooting a 74 (+2) to lead the way into the clubhouse for the Eagles.
Nikku followed Armijo into the clubhouse with a three-stroke victory, shooting a 75 in his matchup.
Pulcini was again bogey-free until the home stretch but had built up a large lead and won by eight strokes. Villareal tied his second matchup, shooting a 74 (+2) to keep Oklahoma Christian’s unbeaten streak. And Rodriguez was the final Eagle to finish, winning by seven strokes, shooting a 77 in his championship round.
Oklahoma Christian was already going to play in the NCAA Regional, as it currently sits at No. 1 in the South-Central region. But by winning the medal match play, OC earned the LSC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division II South Central/West Region set for May 11-13 at Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park, California.
The Eagles championship capped a week in which Rodriguez won the LSC Player of the Year. Coach David Lynn was named the LSC Coach of the Year. And Rodriguez (first team/all-academic), Armijo (first team/all-academic), Pulcini (second team), and NIkku (second team) were named to All-Conference teams.