April 22, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - After 36 holes at the Lady Buckeye Invitational, the Auburn women's golf team leads the pack, led by Maria Martinez in first and Nicole Hage in second, at the par 72, 6,177-yard Golf Club of Dublin.
The Tigers sat in third after the first 18 holes shooting an even par, but sprinted out to a 15-stroke lead after firing an 8-under 280 in the second round for a total of 288-280--568.
"We played very well today," head coach Kim Evans said. "Maria (Martinez) and Nicole (Hage) both had a great two rounds. We have one more round to go though so after a long day we are going to focus on resting up for a tough finale tomorrow."
Martinez leads the pack as she carded an 8-under 69-67--136, while Hage, in second, was close behind at 4-under 71-69--140. Margaret Shirley sits in a tie for sixth after a two-round total of 1-over 73-72--145. Rounding out Auburn's scorers are Abigale Schepperle in a tie for 13th at 3-over 75-72--147, and Jessica Lovell at 48th with a 9-over 79-74--153.
Martinez's two-round score of 136 is by far the lowest in school history, breaking her own record - a tie with Jennifer Head - of 141 in 2004. Hage also broke the previous record at 140 on Saturday, but now sits in second in the Auburn record books behind Martinez.
In team scoring, Auburn is followed by Purdue in second at 7-over 287-296--583 and Florida in third at 8-over (289-295--584). Capping off the top five are Michigan State at 11-over (290-297--587) and Kent State, who was tied for the lead after the first round, at 13-over (287-302--589).
Auburn will be looking for its fifth tournament win of the season as the Tigers head into the final round on Sunday. Tee times are set for 7:30 a.m. CT with a shotgun start. Auburn will be paired with Purdue and Florida with Martinez and Hage starting on the first hole. A recap of the tournament's action can be found on www.auburntigers.com.