SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Four Saint Mary's golfers are among the top-10 individually and the Gaels lead the team competition after shooting 12-under par after the first day at the OGIO UCSB Invitational at Sandpiper Golf Course.

The Gaels shot rounds of 284-280 for a 12-under par 564 and leads second-place Long Beach State by five strokes heading into tomorrow's final round.  LMU sits in third-place among the 13-team field with a 6-over par 582.

The teams will return to the 7,068-yard, par 72 course beginning at 8:50 a.m. for the tournament's final round.

"The team had a very solid day and a nice second round to build a lead over Long Beach State," said SMC head coach Scott Hardy.  "We have to play the golf course and continue to push ourselves.   Long Beach is very good and capable of shooting a very low round. 

"Playing with the lead and expecting to win is the hardest thing in golf.  Much like Kentucky felt in tonight's NCAA championship game, we need to be focused on what we can control and not get ahead of ourselves.  If we can do that, we'll be fine."

Saint Mary's senior Anders Engell continues his recent strong run of form, firing rounds of 69-67 to finish the day with an 8-under par 136.  He leads second-place Zander Schauffele from Long Beach State by four strokes.  

A native of Oslo, Norway, Engell has posted seven under-par rounds in his last nine outings.  He finished in a tie for second-place at The Farms Intercollegiate and the Barona Collegiate Cup before settling for a tie for fifth-place last week at the Duck Invitational in Eugene, Ore.

"Anders is having one of the best spring seasons in SMC history," said Hardy.  "He deserves to win this tournament, but he will need to be aggressive tomorrow."

Juniors Mac McClung and Ben Geyer are tied for third in the 73-player field at 2-under 142. McClung fired rounds of 72-70, while Geyer went 70-72 in his two rounds on the day.

Senior Eric Grimberg shot 73-71 for an even-par 144.  Sophomore Alex Bungert is tied for 52nd with a combined score of 9-over par 153.  Senior Kevin Smith, playing as an individual, shot rounds of 75-79 and is tied for 56th place overall.

OGIO UCSB Invitational
Sandpiper Golf Club
Santa Barbara, Calif.
2nd Round Scores
Par 72, 7068 yards

Fin.  Team                             Scores    Total    Par
   1  Saint Mary's (CA)..............  284  280    564    -12
   2  Long Beach State...............  282  287    569     -7
   3  Loyola Marymount...............  288  294    582     +6
   4  Southern Utah..................  292  295    587    +11
t  5  Seattle University.............  295  294    589    +13
t  5  UC Santa Barbara...............  293  296    589    +13
   7  Sacramento State...............  297  294    591    +15
   8  University of British Columbia.  307  292    599    +23
   9  CSU Northridge.................  308  292    600    +24
  10  Wyoming........................  294  307    601    +25
  11  Cal State Bakersfield..........  303  301    604    +28
  12  UC Riverside...................  298  308    606    +30
  13  Santa Clara....................  307  304    611    +35

Fin.  Player                Scores   Total    Par
   1  Anders Engell........ 69   67    136     -8
t  3  Ben Geyer............ 70   72    142     -2
t  3  Mac McClung.......... 72   70    142     -2
t 10  Eric Grimberg........ 73   71    144      E
t 52  Alex Bungert......... 77   76    153     +9
t 56  Kevin Smith.......... 75   79    154    +10