FORT MYERS, Fla. - Karisa Akin narrowly missed her second Top 10 finish of the fall but the freshman golfer did enjoy her second-best performance of the fall season to lead Middle Tennessee at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational.
Akin shot 6-over 78 in Tuesday's final round and finished tied for 12th with a three-round total 12-over 228. Unfortunately, for Middle Tennessee, Akin's strong showing wasn't enough as the Blue Raiders slipped two spots and finished seventh as a team in the final tournament of the fall season.
The Blue Raiders had a good chance of moving up the leader board after competitive opening rounds Monday; however, they shot 36 over in the final round to slip to seventh with a team total 931. FIU won the event with a 20-over 884, followed by Florida Southern (894) and South Florida (908).
"We gave ourselves a chance to have a strong finish to the fall with two decent rounds Monday but we didn't finish in the final round," Head Coach Chris Adams said. "The course played tough but we left some shots out there. It's not the way we had hoped to finish the fall but there were many positives and we will build on those during the offseason and build on them for the spring season."
The Blue Raiders had two players among the field's top 25. In addition to Akin's top 12 showing, senior Mallory Bishop tied for 22nd with a 16-over 232. Leigh Wilkins tied for 32nd with a 235, Steph Gough tied for 48th with a 239 and Morgan Hale finished at 245.
Akin and Gough were among the highlights of the fall as the freshmen have made an immediate impact. Both players had their score count in each of the four fall events. Middle Tennessee also received contributions from seniors Mallory Bishop and Leigh Wilkins in various events but Adams wants to see more consistency throughout the lineup when the spring season starts.
"We have certainly had some good rounds as a team and individually but we just haven't had that happen throughout the lineup in the same events," Adams said. "When we are able to put those types of rounds and tournaments together then I believe we will have opportunities to gain positive results."
FIU Pat Bradley Invitational
Pelican Preserve GC, Par-72
Final Team Scores
1 FlU 291-291-302 884 +20
2 Florida Southern 293-294-307 894 +30
3 South Florida 298-305-305 908 +44
4 Stetson Univ. 304-298-312 914 +50
5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 305-306-307 918 +54
6 Florida Atlantic 299-308-315 922 +58
7 Middle Tennessee 309-298-324 931 +67
8 Ball State 310-307-316 933 +69
9 Kennesaw State 303-306-325 934 +70
10 Montana 313-303-325 941 +77
11 Wofford 318-303-323 944 +80
11 Daytona State 305-314-325 944 +80
13 Florida Gulf Coast 322-316-323 961 +97
7 MT Scores (931)
T12 Karisa Akin 78-72-78 228 +12
T22 Mallory Bishop 73-78-81 232 +16
T32 Leigh Wilkins 82-73-80 235 +19
T48 Steph Gough 78-75-86 239 +23
T59 Morgan Hale 80-80-85 245 +29
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