Auburn increases "Mo" Morial lead with one round left

Sept. 9, 2014

Sophomore Clara Baena shot a 71 (-1) to lead Auburn in the second round at the "Mo" Morial. (Wade Rackley photo)

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BRYAN, Texas - Sophomore Clara Baena's 1-under-par 71 and three other rounds at even par helped Auburn's women's golf team maintain its tournament lead Tuesday after two rounds at the "Mo" Morial.

Auburn stands at 578 (+2) for the tournament after a 1-under-par 287 in Tuesday's second round at the Texas A&M Traditions Club (par 72, 6,206 yards), nine strokes ahead of both Texas A&M and Florida State. The Aggies shot 284 (-4) on their home course to vault up the leaderboard, and the Seminoles posted a 291 (+3) to hold steady in a tie for second.

Baena equaled her collegiate-best score with her second-straight round at par or better, and junior Alex Harrell remained steady with an even-par 72. The Tiger duo enter the final round tied for third place.

But perhaps the biggest catalyst to the Tigers' team effort came from freshmen Sophia Schubert and Kelli Murphy. The two newcomers rebounded from shaky opening rounds to post matching scores of even-par 72 to move into the tournament's top 20 and help Auburn remain under par as a team for the day.

"I was really proud of our freshmen stepping up doing what they had to do to shoot even par," Auburn head coach Kim Evans said. "That was a big boost to the team. Clara and Alex are continuing to play great golf, and they had opportunities to even play better. All we can do tomorrow is get up and keep doing what we've been doing, and keep giving ourselves chances. We just need to keep the same game plan intact and play good golf tomorrow."

After a bogey at the second hole, Baena would remain unblemished for the next 15 holes with birdies at 10, 12 and 15 to get to 2-under for the day. Only a bogey at the 18th kept her from carding a personal-best round as a Tiger.

Harrell, meanwhile, had an up-and-down day that included three bogeys and three birdies to remain at 1-under alongside Baena. She made the turn at 1-over with bogeys at the sixth and seventh followed by a birdie at No. 8. She then rebounded from a bogey at the 10th with birdies at 12 and 14 to get back to even, then made par on her last four holes.

Murphy bounced back from bogeys on her first two holes to make the turn at even par after birdies at Nos. 6 and 8, then she moved under par with another birdie at the par-5 10th. Bogeys at 13 and 17 moved her back over par, but she pulled back even with a birdie on 18 for her first even-par round as a Tiger. Schubert had bogeys at the first and 17th holes but was more than steady in between with 14 total pars and birdies at the fourth and fifth. A par on 18 kept her even on the day as well. Schubert is tied for 13th and Murphy is tied for 15th entering the final round.

Texas A&M's Maddie Szeryk fired a 7-under-par 65 to move into a share of the individual lead at 3-under alongside first-round leader Kayla Jones of Florida State. Baena and Harrell are two shots back, tied for third with ULM's Lana Hodge.

Wednesday's tee times for Auburn will begin at 8:24 a.m. Auburn will be paired with Texas A&M and Florida State as the Tigers seek their first tournament win since the 2012 SEC Championship.

Live scoring for the tournament is available at birdiefire.com, and fans can follow @AuburnWGolf on Twitter for periodic updates throughout the day.

*Competing as an individual