Posting a 302 and 297, the Ball State University men's golf team tied for seventh in the rain-shortened Adidas Hoosier Invitational.
Due to rain and wet course conditions in Bloomington, the third round of the 54-hole tournament was unable to be completed. Because the 16-team field could not finish the final 18 holes, the final standings were based on the first two rounds.
"We played for about an hour, but then the weather started to set in," head coach Mike Fleck said. "We waited about two and half hours to see what would happen, but the rain didn't let up. We just didn't get an opportunity to get a third round and a full 54-hole tournament completed."
No. 18 Indiana University, who played host to the tournament, finished fourth, nine strokes ahead of the Cardinals. Eastern Kentucky University won the tournament with a team-combined score of 582, 17 stokes ahead of Ball State.
"Our score was a little bit better in the second round, but we were still a little off pace," Fleck said. "Our continuing struggle is finishing rounds. We were in contention, but for whatever reasons guys stumble down the stretch."
Fleck said he is frustrated seeing his players not finish rounds as strongly as they should.
"We definitely have to find a way collectively to finish rounds better, or we are going to continue to struggle," Fleck said. "The makeup of our team does not have those players who can finish in the top five and top 10 individual spots. We need three or four players in the top third of the field, and if we cannot do that we will continue to be inconsistent."
Freshman Eric Steger, who placed second for the Cardinals two weeks ago at Pinehurst, led Ball State with scores of 73 and 75. Steger placed 18th overall individually.
"This is the second tournament in a row where he has had a very good performance and been consistent with his effort," Fleck said. "He had a productive weekend, and hopefully he can continue to prepare and treat each round as if it's important. If he can continue and get some other guys going, we have a chance to be successful. I just challenge him to be ready every day."
Two Mid-American Conference teams placed better than Ball State: Miami University and the University of Toledo. Miami placed second, while Toledo finished sixth, three strokes ahead of Ball State.
"We've just got to be in a position not to be average in terms of our performance," Fleck said. "We have got to be more productive with our top players and be able to finish rounds much better."
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