COTO DE CAZA, Calif. — The Sacramento State men's golf team posted the lowest team score of the third round of the Van Harte Orange County Collegiate Classic on Tuesday. The Hornets finished the round at 1-under par and moved up two positions to fifth place in the final standings.
 
Freshman Max Thomas led the team with a 2-under par round of 70. Thomas had a quick start to his round birdying his second hole (No. 16) and then eagling the par-4 17^th to get to 3-under. His first bogey on the round came on No. 2 but was immediately followed by birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 and another bogey on No. 5 to get him to 5-under. Thomas played his next four holes at 2-over with bogeys on Nos. 7, 8 and 10 and a birdie on the par-4 ninth. After a par on No. 11, he birdied the par-5 12^th before ending his round with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14.
 
Luke Dugger tied for fifth place with a three-day total of 73-71-71-215. Dugger overcame three bogeys on his first three holes to finish the final round at 1-under par. He began his comeback with birdies on Nos. 17, 18 and 2 to get back to even through nine holes. A bogey on the par-5 third was trailed by birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 7 to get him to 2-under. Dugger bogeyed the par-3 eighth and then ended his round with three consecutive pars.
 
Zach Matzke also finished in the red on Tuesday with a 1-under par round of 71. Matzke had a strong start and used birdies on the par-4 17^th and second holes to get to 2-under through five holes. However, he played the next eight holes at 3-over but rebounded with birdies on the par-4 11^th and par-5 12^th to get back under par. Matzke moved up 11 spots during the round and finished tied for 24^th place.
 
Zach Mate added a 10^th place finish with a 54-hole total of 72-72-75-219. Mate parred his first seven holes and dropped to 1-under with a birdie on No. 2. He found himself even through 12 holes with a double bogey on the par-5 fifth and a birdie on the par-5 sixth. Mate had three pars and three bogeys over his final six holes.
 
Cal State Fullerton pulled ahead of UC Riverside late in the day to earn the team title. The Titans finished the tournament at 6-over par as a team to win by two strokes. UC Irvine was third at 9-over and was followed by Gonzaga (21-over) and Sacramento State (22-over) in the top five of the 10-team field.
 
Sacramento State will next compete at the Nick Watney Invitational in Fresno, Calif., on Feb. 24-25.
 
Van Harte Orange County Collegiate Classic
Coto de Caza, Calif. | Coto de Caza GRQC
Par 72 | 6,950 Yards
 
Team Standings
1. Cal State Fullerton 289-290-291-870
2. UC Riverside 292-285-295-872
3. UC Irvine 298-287-288-873
4. Gonzaga 287-309-289-885
5. Sacramento State 299-300-287-886
6. UC Santa Barbara 298-294-296-888
T6. Weber State 311-291-297-899
T7. St. John's 301-297-301-899
T9. Southern Utah 304-304-305-913
T9. British Columbia 308-308-297-913
 
Individual Top Five
1. Peicheng Chen, SJ, 70-68-72-210
2. Ryan Gay, UCSB, 71-69-72-212
3. Tegan Andrews, CSF, 73-72-68-213
4. Xingzhi Lin, UCI, 73-70-71-214
T5. Luke Dugger, SAC, 73-71-71-215
T5. Yaoting Zou, UCI, 71-73-71-215
 
Sacramento State Scores
T5. Luke Dugger 73-71-71-215
T10. Zach Mate 72-72-75-219
T25. Zach Matzke 77-76-71-224
T33. Max Thomas 77-81-70-228
T55. Patrick Dumag 78-91-84-253