Opening the tournament, the University of Evansville men’s golf team sits 12th after the first round of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at Sevierville Golf Course in Sevierville, Tenn.

Evansville recorded a 305 as a team in the first round, just nine strokes outside of the top 10. Leading the tournament is Lee, who finished the opening round with a 12-under 276 as a team, giving Lee a four-stroke lead over second-place Eastern Kentucky.

Leading the Aces, junior Matthew Ladd opened the tournament with a one-over 73, putting Ladd in a tie for 22nd. Ladd sits six strokes back of the lead and just two strokes out of the top 10. One stroke back of Ladd was freshman Dallas Koth who sits in a tie for 31st after recording a two-over 74 in the first round.

As an individual, junior Robert Waggoner was the third-lowest Ace on the first day as Waggoner shot a 77 in the opening round for a share of 63rd place. Senior Noah Reese followed closely behind Waggoner, tallying an opening-round 78 that put Reese in a tie for 71st.
A pair of Aces finished just one stroke apart after the first round as sophomores Spencer Wagner and Jessie Brumley carded an 80 and 81 in the first round, placing Wagner in a tie for 78th and Brumley in a tie for 81st.

Joining Waggoner as an individual, senior Gabe Rohleder completed the first round in a tie for 82nd with an opening round 83.

The Aces are back out on the course on Tuesday for the second of three rounds of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.

In a packed field, the University of Evansville women’s golf team finished the first day of competition at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate at Sevierville Golf Club in Sevierville, Tenn.

In the first round, the Aces shot a 319 as a team, placing Evansville in 10th in the 12-team field. Samford and Eastern Kentucky are tied atop the leaderboard, recording team scores of 289 on the opening day.

Senior Sydney Anderson paced Evansville in the first round with a three-over 75. After the first day, Anderson sits in a tie for 16th, five strokes back of the lead. Fellow senior Madison Chaney tallied a 79 in the first round, placing Chaney in a tie for 33.
Finishing just one stroke apart, Sophia Rohleder and Lexie Sollman carded an 82 and 83, respectively. The two sit in a tie for 48th and 53rd after the first round, but are just four and five strokes, respectively, out of the top 30.

Concluding the day in a tie for 62nd, freshman Alyssa McMinn finished with an opening-round 86. Competing as an individual, freshman Caitlin O’Donnell was the third-lowest Ace on the day with an 80 in the first-round, good enough for a share of 40th.

Evansville reaches the midway point of the tournament on Monday with the second of three rounds.

University of Southern Indiana junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for Softball in an announcement by the league office Monday afternoon.

Leonhardt was instrumental in leading USI Softball to a 4-0 record in GLVC play this weekend. She went 2-0 in the circle with a 0.00 ERA, a .152 opponent batting average and 16 strikeouts in two appearances and 13.0 innings of work.

Against McKendree University on Saturday, Leonhardt scattered five hits across seven innings, striking out 10 batters en route to the complete-game victory. She followed that effort by carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning of USI’s 7-0 game-one win over the University of Illinois Springfield Sunday.

Leonhardt finished the doubleheader with six strikeouts, giving up just two hits, in six innings of work before giving way to freshman hurler Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana), who pitched a scoreless seventh to preserve the shutout.

The biology major helped herself at the plate in all four games as she hit .556 (5-9) with two doubles, four sacrifices, three runs scored and a team-high six RBIs.

Leonhardt has been on fire as of late, holding the opposition scoreless in her last five appearances, or 30 and a third innings of work. She has not issued a walk in the last 35 innings.

On the year, Leonhardt is 10-3 with a 1.66 ERA, a .187 opponent batting average and 95 strikeouts. She also is hitting .390 with four doubles, a triple and 14 RBIs.

Monday’s honor marks the fifth time in Leonhardt’s career that she has earned GLVC Pitcher of the Week honors and the first since gathering the accolade last April.

USI (16-10, 4-0 GLVC) returns to action Saturday at noon when it visits Maryville University for a GLVC doubleheader in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles also visit the University of Missouri-St. Louis for a GLVC twinbill Sunday at noon. Both doubleheaders will be aired live on the GLVC Sports Network.

For the second week in a row, the University of Evansville baseball team has the Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the week on their staff. The league has given the honor to junior right-hand pitcher Adam Lukas, who replaces teammate junior left-hand pitcher Nathan Croner, who wore the crown last week.

Lukas turned in a dominating performance against Creighton in last Friday’s series opener at Charles H. Braun Stadium, striking out 12, while holding the potent Bluejay lineup to a single hit in the Aces’ 7-1 victory. Cronercertainly put himself in the running to retain the award, tossing seven shutout frames at Creighton, while striking out seven batters in an 11-0 victory over the Bluejays.

The University of Evansville baseball team is back in action Wednesday night at home against Eastern Illinois University. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.