UNLV roundup: Men’s golf team rallies, wins NCAA regional
Shintaro Ban, John Oda and Harry Hall finished among the top six individuals to help the UNLV men’s golf team make up a three-shot deficit entering the final round and win the NCAA West Lafayette Regional on Wednesday in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The 17th-ranked Rebels finished at 8-under-par 872 to finish three strokes better than No. 20 Auburn, the runner-up, to win their first regional in 12 years.
Next came No. 8 Illinois (878), No. 44 New Mexico (880) and No. 38 Purdue (882) in the 13-team field.
Ban, a junior, shot 2-under 214 to tie for third with Auburn’s Matt Gilchrest, one stroke behind co-medalists Andrej Bevins of New Mexico and Nick Hardy of Illinois.
Fellow junior Oda was at 1-under 215 and alone in fifth, followed by sophomore Hall (216) alone in sixth in the 75-player field.
Also for UNLV, freshman Justin Kim and senior Taylor Montgomery each shot 14-over 230 and tied for 54th.
The top five teams advanced to the NCAA Championship on May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
SOFTBALL
Senior Brianna Gatlin and junior Janine Petmecky, who each started all 52 games this season and batted .335 and .344, respectively, were named All-Mountain West second team.
Gatlin, from La Quinta, California, played infield and outfield in her first season with the Rebels after transferring from Utah Valley. Her batting average, 52 hits, 28 RBIs and four home runs ranked second on the team, and her 31 runs and 13 doubles paced UNLV.
Petmecky, from Riverside, California, played primarily in left field and led the Rebels in batting average, hits (55) and RBIs (29) while finishing second in doubles (eight) and tied for third in home runs (three).
