Moritz, Tounalom lead Ball State Women's Golf to 2nd-place finish in Maryland

Manon Tounalom plays her second round on the opening day of the Cardinal Classic at the Player’s Club on Sept. 19. The Ball State women’s golf team played its way into fourth place behind defending champion Eastern Kentucky and Toledo and Western Michigan in a tie for second. Grace Ramey // DN
Manon Tounalom plays her second round on the opening day of the Cardinal Classic at the Player’s Club on Sept. 19. The Ball State women’s golf team played its way into fourth place behind defending champion Eastern Kentucky and Toledo and Western Michigan in a tie for second. Grace Ramey // DN

Hoya Invitational results

Georgetown +42

Ball State +50

Akron +51

Richmond +53

St. John’s +63

Quinnipiac +67

Lehigh University +93

Bucknell +122

In its final match before the Mid-American Conference championship, Ball State Women’s Golf finished eight strokes behind first place at the Hoya Women’s Invitational. 

After the first two rounds of play on Monday, Ball State found itself tied for second place only behind host Georgetown. The Cardinals sat 32-over-par with a total score of 608 after playing 36 holes. 

Freshman Hadley Moritz led the field for the Cardinals by shooting a 75 and a 74. This landed Moritz in seventh place individually before the championship round on Tuesday. 

“My mindset is what kept me in the competition,” Moritz said. “I never got ahead of myself or mad at myself, so staying steady in my mental game really helped out.” 

Before participating in the final day of play, all six Cardinals sat in the top 30 individually. As a team, each competitor ended the tournament in the top 25 overall. 

“We have everybody contributing,” head coach Katherine Mowat said. “We don’t always have the same people playing because we always have five people competing very well. We have been showing a lot of depth as a team.” 

Moritz followed her day one performance by shooting a 78 on Tuesday. This score enabled her to finish tied for eighth place with junior teammate Manon Tounalom. Tounalom scored a 74 in the final round, which improved upon her 79 and 74 from Monday’s field. 

Also contributing to the Cardinals’ performance was sophomore Liz Kim who finished tied for 11th by shooting a 74 in round two, freshman Morgan Lewis who placed tied for 19th with a 74 in the first round and sophomore Emily Knouff who finished tied for 23rd with a 75 in the final round. 

As a team, the highest score of the tournament came on Tuesday when the Cardinals notched a 306. This sat Ball State 50-over-par, only behind Georgetown who finished 42-over-par. 

“We had great weather and we just focused on our depth in the lineup,” Mowat said. “We are certainly pleased with our overall finish.” 

The Cardinals used this playing time for a final chance to hone in their skills and work on specific areas of play before the MAC Championships. 

“We are really ready now to compete in conference,” Moritz said. “I think we have a good chance to beat out some of the top teams.”

Ball State will hit the links for the final time this spring at the MAC Championships in Noblesville, Indiana from April 19-21. 

Contact Drew Pierce with any comments at dlpierce2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @dpierce3cc 

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