UMSL won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship for the fourth time in school history – and first since 2022 – after knocking off Missouri S&T in the final match on Friday at Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru, Indiana. (Photo by Jared McFarlane/GLVC)
Men’s Golf
The University of Missouri–St. Louis men’s golf team captured its first Great Lakes Valley Conference championship since 2022 on Friday with a 4-1 victory in the final match over top-seeded Missouri S&T at Rock Hollow Golf Club in Peru, Indiana. The second-seeded Tritons also knocked off third-seeded Drury 3-2 in the semifinals of medal/match play after placing second behind the Miners after 54 holes of stroke play. UMSL posted a combined score of 865, seven shots out of first in the 13-team field. Trigg Lindahl paced the Tritons and finished second overall individually with a three-round total of 211 to capture All-GLVC honors. Logan Mayo and Dani Solavera were each tied for eighth with scores of 219. Leo Baudry finished tied for 12th at 221. Benjamin Berger and Ludvig Granlund were tied for 17th and 20th, respectively. Drury’s Gaige Lewis was the individual medalist, edging Lindahl by one stroke. The Tritons have now won four GLVC championships, all under the direction of Coach Troy Halterman. UMSL also has Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles in 1992 and 1993. The victory assured the Tritons of qualifying for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the 13th straight season by locking up the GLVC’s automatic bid. UMSL, ranked No. 5 in the most recent NCAA Midwest Regional rankings, will next play in the Midwest/Central Regional Tournament May 7-9 in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Women’s Tennis
The Tritons locked up their first GLVC East Division title on Saturday with a 7-0 sweep of Illinois Springfield on the road. It’s the second-ever divisional title for the women’s program and first outright title. UMSL shared the GLVC West Division title with Drury and Rockhurst in 2017. The Tritons clinched the title by sweeping all three doubles matches against the Prairie Stars. UMSL only dropped six games combined in the three matches, and Aleksandra Lopez and Millie Wileman won 6-0 against Alisha Deogaonkar and Maria Garcia Gama. In singles, both Hannah Tse and Lopez needed to rally from a set down to win their matches at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Tse beat Ema Norma Bordean 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, and Lopez knocked off Cristina Romero 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Wileman, Morgan Lint, Anna Favaron and Giuliana Cunza each won their singles matches in straights sets, and none lost more than four games. The Tritons (13-4, 4-0 GLVC) will be the No. 1 seed in the GLVC East Division when the conference tournament begins next weekend at Center Grove High School in Indianapolis. They have a bye into Saturday’s semifinal and will face the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal between Drury and Maryville.
Men’s Tennis
UMSL ended its season on a high note, beating Illinois Springfield 6-1 in Saturday’s road dual meet and snapping its nine-match losing streak. The Tritons took two of three doubles matches at the Springfield Racquet and Fitness Center. Joan Garros and AJ Burrows pulled out a 7-5 win over Lukas Pieringer and Antonio Streubel to lock up the doubles point after the two teams split the first two doubles matches. The Prairie Stars won their lone point when Tommy Griese had to retire while trailing by a set in his No. 1 singles match, but UMSL got strong performances from the rest of its singles players. Daniel Berdecio, Percy Siercke and Garros each won in straight sets at Nos. 2, 3 and 6, respectively, and the Tritons also pulled out three-set victories in their singles matches. Henry Roberts topped Kai Van-Roon 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3) at No. 4, and Jose Yanez edged Luke Pennington 7-6 (5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-6) at No. 5. UMSL finished its season 4-14, including 1-3 in GLVC play.
Baseball
The Tritons dropped a midweek game against NCAA Division I Lindenwood 12-8 on Tuesday but bounced back by sweeping a GLVC series against Lincoln at the UMSL Baseball Field. UMSL opened the series with three consecutive shutouts, beating the Blue Tigers 9-0 in Friday’s opener and sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader with scores of 11-0 and 1-0. It also took the series finale 11-6 on Sunday afternoon. Brandon Johnson picked up the victory Friday night, going seven innings and striking out 10 while holding Lincoln to four hits. The Tritons had 13 hits, and LJ Randle, Owen Faith and Ethan Landis each drove in two runs. Eli Cartwright went five shutout innings, allowing one hit, with nine strikeouts in Saturday’s first game and improved to 7-3 this season. Johnson drove in four runs in the win, and Justin Terhaar reached base safely four times and had two RBI. Johnson drove in Cade Grevengoed with a fifth-inning single for the lone run in Saturday’s second game, and Bryce Nicolay scattered six hits in five shutout innings. Mitch Bonczkowski had two of UMSL’s 11 hits and drove in four runs – including his 19th home run of the season – to lead the way in Sunday’s victory. Bonczkowski’s four RBI gave him 59 this season, tied with former teammate Andrew Buescher for the most in a season in school history. Johnson also homered as UMSL overcame a 4-0 deficit. The Tritons (27-19, 21-7 GLVC) will wrap up their regular season with a four-game series against crosstown rival Maryville beginning Thursday at Weber Field on the Maryville campus.
Softball
UMSL got swept in its midweek nonconference series against Central Missouri, losing 7-5 and 8-2 on Tuesday at the UMSL Softball Field, but the Tritons rebounded by winning three of four games in their weekend doubleheaders against Upper Iowa and Quincy. UMSL swept the Peacocks, winning 12-3 in six innings in Saturday’s opener and 7-1 in the day’s second game. Ashley Borowitz picked up the victory with five innings of scoreless relief in the first game. She was backed by 14 UMSL hits, including a home run by Jamie Widule, who drove in four runs. May Pasqualini, Kiley Sullivan and Gracie Philpot each drove in two runs. Kenzie Stoltz went the distance, yielding one run on four hits in the second game. Kaytie Kossina and Phoebe Miller combined for five hits and each drove in two runs. The Tritons split Sunday’s doubleheader against the Hawks, winning the first game 5-4 but dropping the second 8-7. Borowitz collected another win in relief on Sunday, allowing two runs in 4 2/3 innings to improve to 8-7 this season. UMSL scored three times in the final two innings, including Maddie Illingworth‘s go-ahead home run in the seventh. The Tritons couldn’t hold a 7-4 lead, surrendering one run in the sixth and three in the seventh in the second game. Sullivan led the offense with two hits, including a home run, and four RBI. UMSL (24-22, 17-7 GLVC) will close out the regular season with home doubleheaders against Truman State on Saturday and William Jewell on Sunday.
