SALADO - The good news for the Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s golf team in Tuesday’s final round of the UMHB Fall Invitational was that it shot six strokes better than first-round leader Texas-Dallas.

The bad news for the Crusaders was that UT-Dallas managed to hold on for the championship on the strength on its first-round score and that Lubbock Christian and Tyler Junior College also narrowly beat out UMHB.

Coach Aaron Rodeffer’s Crusaders shot their second consecutive 17-over-par 301 at Mill Creek Golf Club for a 602 total, three strokes behind UT-Dallas (292-307-599) and three behind Lubbock Christian and Tyler, which each shot 302-298-600. LCU captured a scorecard playoff to place second in the 18-team tournament.

UT-Brownsville (304-299-603) and Baylor’s junior varsity (298-305-603) tied for fifth.

UMHB’s junior varsity team, which actually led its varsity after shooting a 300 on Monday, slipped to a 318 in the final round and tied for ninth.

Tyler JC’s Cody Blankenship won the individual title at 71-71-142, two strokes ahead of Brent Marshall (73-71) of UT-Dallas.

UMHB varsity players Johnathan Sustaita (74-76) and Eric White (75-75) tied for 15th place, and Davis Dewald and Garrison Nordt both shot 76-75 to share 18th.

Also for UMHB: Nathan Erwin (74-78) and Kevin Black (70-82) shot 152s to tie for 23rd, Travis Bice (76-78-154) shared 38th, Mike McQuaid (77-78-155) tied for 40th, Kyle Boliver (78-80-158) shared 61st, Shayne Eddleman tied for 67th and Jeff Hoy (82-82-164) shared 80th.

The Crusaders’ next fall tournament is Ohio Wesleyan’s Gordin Collegiate Classic, set for Oct. 12-13 in Fredericksburg, Va.

Lady Crusaders drop to ninth

The Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s golf team couldn’t improve its score or its standing in Tuesday’s final round of the annual UMHB Fall Invitational, shooting a 365 in breezy conditions at Wildflower Country Club to drop from seventh place to ninth.

Coach Darla Kirby’s Lady Crusaders posted a 354-365-719 total at par-72, 5,820-yard Wildflower to finish two strokes behind Schreiner (357-360). Western Texas College had rounds of 322 and 335 for a 657 total that edged first-round leader Lubbock Christian (318-340-658) for the championship.

Southwestern (668), Texas-Brownsville (685) and California-Santa Cruz (691) rounded out the top five in the 19-team tournament.

Marissa Mauldin of Southwestern shot 73-81-154 to beat Western Texas’ Lauren Smith (75-80) by a stroke for the individual crown.

Allison Williams paced UMHB by shooting 86-87-173 to tie for 25th place. Also for the Lady Crusaders, Courtney Nelson (90-85-175) finished 32nd, Kathryne Lozano (86-93-179) shared 43rd and Hope Koenning (92-100-192) tied for 70th.

The Lady Crusaders’ next tournament is Trinity’s Alamo Classic from Oct. 13-14 in Spring Branch.