State sports briefs

UAFS opens regional tied for ninth Junior Tucker Tovar shot a 1-over 72 on Monday to lead the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, which finished the opening round of the NCAA Division II South Central-West Region Tournament tied for ninth place in Amarillo, Texas. UAFS shot a 13-over 297 and is tied with Dixie State University. Both are 11 strokes behind tournament leader St. Mary’s, which shot a 2-over 286. UAFS’ Zach Partin shot a 2-over 73 and is tied for 23rd. Harding opens in fifth place

Harding University shot a 3-over 291 to finish fifth in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Midwest/Central Regional in Findlay, Ohio. Tiffin leads the 20-team field at 7-under 281. Indianapolis is second at 1-under 287, followed by Bellarmine (289) and Missouri-St. Louis (290). Arkansas Tech University shot a 298 to sit in a tie for 11th with McKendree. Henderson State University at 300 is tied for 13th with Southeast Oklahoma State. Harding sophomore Gregor MacIntosh made four birdies in the first round and is tied for sixth at 2-under 70. MacIntosh is three strokes back of leader Logan Price of Tiffin. Harding senior Mason Banger is tied for 21st after a 1-over 73. Luke Cornett shot the low round for the Wonder Boys, carding a 73 to tie for 21st. Cornett opened the tournament with a birdie on the first hole before finishing the front nine at even par. He then birdied two of the first three holes on the back nine. Putter Srinoon, Austin Gean and Kellen Gray each followed with a first-round 75. Srinoon led Tech with 15 pars, tied for the most among the 108-man field. Junior Cameron McRae led Henderson in round one. McRae shot 1-under par 71 for the day and had four birdies on his scorecard to end the opening round tied for 10th place overall. ATU begins regional play in first place Arkansas Tech University shot 13-over 301 in round one for the lead at the NCAA Division II Midwest/Central Regional in Findlay, Ohio. ATU’s Allie Weiner is tied for seventh at 73, and Peerada Piddon is tied for 13th at 75. Henderson State is two strokes back of third place, and five back of first, to finish in fifth place. Three Reddies are among the top-20 individually after the first day. Hanna Brauburger, who shot a 75, leads the way and is tied for 16th overall. Sarah Wright and Luisa Gartmann carded scores of 76. as Austin Southern Baker’s Arkansas Baker’s grand University slam slam keyed powers rallied a five-run for SAU a 9-7 seventh victory inning over Henderson Conference State Baseball University Championships on Monday in in Enid, the Okla. Great American The Muleriders (34-17) trailed for the first 6½ innings before the seventh-inning outburst. Eric White earned the win after tossing 21/3 innings of hitless relief. Southern Arkansas advances to face Oklahoma Baptist today. Zack Gray gave the Reddies (30-20) a lead in the top of the first inning when he hit his 10th home run. After a walk and a base hit to open the game, Gray took the second pitch from Kenneth Tabor over the wall for a three-run shot. Elsewhere in the GAC, Jared Droll struck out six in 41 /3 innings of relief to lead Arkansas Tech to a 9-5 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma. Shane Pollard had two hits and Korey Thompson belted his second home run of the season for the Wonder Boys (29-22). Nolan Withrow notched his sixth save of the season.