RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Midwestern State was unable to hang on to a five-stroke advantage on West Texas A&M with three holes to play during the final round of the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Saturday afternoon at the Victoria Club.

The rivals were in a pitched battle for the sixth and final berth for the region in the NCAA Division II Championship set for May 19-23 at the PGA National Resort in West Palm Beach Florida.

MSU seemed up to the challenge after the Mustangs went a collective 5-under on the par-5, 486-yard 14th hole with senior Seth Bearden notching the team's lone eagle of the day with Ryan Griff, Trevor Walsh, and James Perry also delivering birdies on the hole.

Bearden tacked on another birdie on the next hole – another par-5 – on the way to a team-low, 3-under 69.

But West Texas A&M combined to go 10-under as a team over the last four holes to wrest sixth-place away from the Mustangs.

WT closed out with a 54-hole, 20-under team total of 844, finishing three strokes better than the Mustangs, who were 4-over during West Texas A&M's closing burst over the last four hole of play.

The Buffs will join region champion Colorado Christian (-46/818), Oklahoma Christian (-32/832), California State-East Bay (-29/835), St. Mary's (-26/838), and California State-San Bernardino (-25/839) in the Sunshine State.

Bearden led the Mustangs by tying for 17th on the individual leader board, carding scores of 69, 72, and 69 for a 6-under 210.

Senior James Perry (72-65-75) and freshman Ryan Griff (70-71-71) tied for 28th with a 4-under total of 212, while senior Gatlin Goad (74-68-77) tied for 77th with a 3-over tally of 219.

Senior Trevor Walsh (71-80-74) tied for 101st with a 9-over 225.

Oklahoma Christian senior Oskari Nikku carded scores of 63, 69, and 67 for a 17-under total of 199 to win by three strokes over Colorado Christian senior Sangha Park (65-70-67).
 

NCAA D2 West/South Central Regional

Team Leaderboard

Pos	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Colorado Christian	-46	270	272	276	818
2	Oklahoma Christian	-32	278	269	285	832
3	California State, East Bay	-29	273	277	285	835
4	St. Mary's (Texas)	-26	280	273	285	838
5	California State, San Bernardino	-25	272	287	280	839
6	West Texas A&M	-20	279	278	287	844
7	Midwestern State	-17	282	276	289	847
8	California State, Monterey Bay	-14	283	278	289	850
	Colorado State-Pueblo	-14	284	276	290	850
10	Colorado School of Mines	-13	280	287	284	851
11	Simon Fraser (B.C.)	-12	287	282	283	852
	Dallas Baptist	-12	279	285	288	852
13	Chico State (Calif.)	-11	293	272	288	853
14	Western Washington	-10	285	278	291	854
15	UT Tyler	-9	284	281	290	855
16	Sonoma State (Calif.)	-7	282	284	291	857
	Hawaii-Hilo	-7	285	290	282	857
18	Colorado Mesa	-2	290	284	288	862
19	Stanislaus State (Calif.)	-1	291	285	287	863
20	California State, San Marcos	+3	285	294	288	867

   

Individual Leaderboard

Pos	Player	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Oskari Nikku	Oklahoma Christian	-17	63	69	67	199
2	Sangha Park	Colorado Christian	-14	65	70	67	202
3	Chris Wardrup	California State, San Bernardino	-12	64	70	70	204
	Adam Duncan	Colorado Christian	-12	71	68	65	204
	Xavier Bighaus	Colorado Christian	-12	66	65	73	204
6	Baptiste Touchard	St. Mary's	-11	63	66	76	205
	John Kim	California State, San Bernardino	-11	68	70	67	205
8	Agustin Pizzorno	Colorado State-Pueblo	-9	68	68	71	207
	Vertti Perala	Oklahoma Christian	-9	71	65	71	207
	Tyler Price	California State, San Bernardino	-9	67	71	69	207
	Cambron Nevill	Sonoma State	-9	70	69	68	207
	Easton Hether	California State, East Bay	-9	71	68	68	207

Midwestern State Scorecards

7	Midwestern State	-17	282	276	289	847
Place	Player	To Par	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
T17	Seth Bearden	-6	69*	72*	69*	210
T28	James Perry	-4	72*	65*	75*	212
T28	Ryan Griff	-4	70*	71*	71*	212
T77	Gatlin Goad	+3	74	68*	77	219
T101	Trevor Walsh	+9	71*	80	74*	225