March 31, 2012

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana Tech shot a two-round total of 15-over-par 591 in the first day of the 2012 LSU National Invitation at the University Club as the Bulldogs are tied for fifth in the 12-team tournament.

Tech opened the day with an impressive opening round of four-over-par 292 to sit alone in third place behind only Top 25 ranked LSU and Iowa as the Bulldogs saw Cody Santone, Jonathan Bale and Cody Blankenship all shoot even par 72.

However, the Bulldogs struggled during the afternoon round as Tech shot an 11-over-par 299 to slide into a three-way tie for fifth place with UL-Lafayette and Iowa State.

Iowa leads the event heading into tomorrow's final round with a two-round total of eight-under-par 568 followed by LSU (574), Purdue (585), Minnesota (587), LA Tech (591), UL-Lafayette (591), Iowa State (591), UNC-Wilmington (600), UT-Chattanooga (604), Furman (608), Michigan (610) and Boston College (630).

Sam Forgan (78-70=148, T19th) is Tech's top competitor in the individual competition followed by Travis Wilmore (76-73=149, T24th), Bale (72-78=150, T26th), Blankenship (72-78=150, T26th) and Santone (72-80=152, T36th). Jack Lempke, playing as an individual, is tied for 52nd with a two-round total of 156 (79-77).

Minnesota's Erik Van Rooyen leads the individual competition with a six-under-par 138.