MORGANTON, N.C. — The Appalachian State University men's and women's golf teams combined on Thursday to take down Gardner-Webb 4.5-to-3.5 to win the University Cup with a last-match victory at the Mimosa Hills Golf and Country Club in Morganton, N.C.
With the team score tied at 3.5, senior John Michael Cole and sophomore Lee Mitchell pulled out to win the tie-breaker match against Gardner-Webb's Matt Yelverton and Elkie Kow without playing all 18 holes. Cole and Mitchell obtained a 3-and-2 victory to help the Mountaineers clinch the match.
The Mountaineers and Runnin' Bulldogs paired players together in match play action of 18 holes. This was the ninth edition of the University cup played at the Mimosa Hills Country Club. The event featured seven four-ball matches with one men's golfer and one women's golferfrom each school comprising the team. The all-male tiebreaker was used when the seven scheduled matched ended tied.
Head Coach Bill Dicus was optimistic when the outcome showed that they needed a tiebreaker.
"I felt like if we could get to the tiebreaker, we had the advantage," Dicus said. "Both Lee and Cole are good players who are playing very well right now.
Appalachian State started the match strong, gaining the first win.
Eric Eberspeaker and Lily Yatawara teamed up to go 1-up over Gardner-Webb's Blake Maum and Tessy Tuschen to give Appalachian the lead.
Gardner-Webb stormed back to win 3-and-2 in the second and third matches. Caleb Keck and Wenjia Cao teamed up to lose the second match while Kyle Austin and Yuxuan Li lost the third match.
Patrick Moriarty and Hannah Craver took the next match at 2-and-1 against Vincent Blanchette and Julia Hendderson. The Runnin' Bulldogs got the point back in the next match with a 1-up victory.
With the Mountaineers down 2-3, Appalachian's Andrew Furr and Madalyn Davis teamed to secure the 1-up victory and tie the match with only two more pairings to play.
Jake Williams and Emily Stinson squared off against Daley Byles and M.K. Donovan in the second-to-last match. Both teams battled to secure the match clinching point but they came all-squared to force the fantastic finish.
This match concluded the Appalachian State women's team regular season. They will step on the green next at the Southern Conference Championships in Hilton Head, S.C. starting April 13.
The men's team will continue its regular season play facing off at the Irish Creek Intercollegiate at the Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, N.C. on Saturday.
Appalachian State 4.5 Score Gardner-Webb 3.5
Eric Eberspeaker/Lily Yatawara 1UP Blake Maum/Tessy Tuschen
Caleb Keck/Wenjia Cao 2&3 Chris Jones/Sarah Bertram
Kyle Austin/Yuxuan Li 2&3 Nick Browning/Courtney Yanch
Patrick Moriarty/Hannah Craver 2&1 Vincent Blanchette/Julia Henderson
Casey Komline/Haley Zagoria 1UP Clement Kumiawan/Taylor Dodson
Andrew Furr/Madalyn Davis 1UP Steve Jones/Pilar Morgan
Jake Williams/Emily Stinson AS Daley Byles/MK Donovan
TIEBREAKER
Lee Mitchell/John Michael Cole 3&2 Matt Yelverton/Elkie Kow
