March 30, 2010
Dallas – Matt Vela fired a final round 72 to finish fourth overall individually, helping St. Mary’s to a third place showing at the Dallas Baptist Patriot Invitational, Tuesday at the Golf Club of Dallas.
Vela (Jr., San Antonio) had a steady 215 for the tournament, shooting a 71, followed by back-to-back 72s. Vela finished four strokes behind individual champion Will Dusenbury of host Dallas Baptist, who finished with a one-over par 211. He finished two strokes ahead of runner-up Andrew Green of the University of Central Oklahoma.
Sam Jernigan (So., San Antonio) was second on the Rattler squad, 11th overall, with a three-round total of 218. Jeff Rein (Jr., San Antonio) finished 15th with a 220, Tim Paiz (Fr., San Antonio) was 68th with a 230 and James Grant (Sr., San Antonio) was 87th with a 239.
In the team standings, Oklahoma City University and Midwestern State University tied for top honors with identical three-round scores of 878. St. Mary’s was third, just four strokes back at 882. Abilene Christian University was fourth, five strokes back, and Dallas Baptist was fifth, six strokes off the pace.
The Rattlers will return to action on April 5-6, when they travel to Miami Beach, Fla., for the Buccaneer Invitational.