Tubert, Arkansas golf ready for NCAA Championships
Update on local athletes competing in college.
Emily Tubert (Burroughs High, 2010) junior, University of Arkansas women’s golf: The former All-Area standout for the Indians and her Razorback teammates are preparing for the 2013 NCAA Championships, which begin Tuesday and conclude on Friday.
The fifth-ranked Razorbacks punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships by way of a program-best tie for third place at the 2013 NCAA East Regional in Auburn, Ala., May 9-11. The Razorbacks posted an 864 en route to advancing.
Arkansas is one of seven Southeastern Conference teams to advance. The entire field includes: Alabama, Tulane, Oklahoma State, Texas, Northwestern, UCLA and Auburn from the East Regional; Duke, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Florida, Arizona State, UC Davis, Wisconsin and Michigan State from the Central Regional and Southern California, Purdue, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Stanford, Arizona, Oregon and San Jose State from the West Regional.
Of the 378 regional participants, 126 advanced to the finals. Eight teams and two individuals not on a selected team advanced from each regional. All participants will compete throughout the entire 72 holes of championship stroke-play competition. In the team competition, the low four scores for each team will count in each day’s total score.
In 2012, the Razorbacks posted a program-best tie for fifth at the NCAA Championships. This year’s advancement to the event is the sixth team appearance in program history. Arkansas is making its third consecutive appearance and it’s fourth under head Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor. Estes-Taylor was also with the team for two other appearances as an assistant coach.
The Razorbacks enter the NCAA Championship at No. 5 in this week’s Golfstat.com rankings. Arkansas checks in at No. 5 in the Golfweek.com rankings, paced by Tubert who is ranked No. 27 overall in the country.
This season, Arkansas has played in 10 events finishing in the top five nine. Arkansas has seven finishes in top-three spots, including a win at the LSU Golf Classic on March 24. It was the first team title since the 2010 season. Arkansas finished tied for seventh in its ninth event of the year (SEC Championship) but shot one of the lowest rounds of the tournament on the final day.
Tubert has two wins under her belt this season, running her career total to five victories with the Razorbacks. She has five top-10 finishes in nine events and posted a season-low round 70 three times this season. She leads the team with a 73.29 stroke average ranking 10th in the Central Region and fifth in the SEC heading into the postseason.
For the third straight season, Tubert earned All-Southeastern Conference honors. She is also a two-time All-American honoree. In addition, Tubert is a two-time National Golf Coaches Assn. All-Scholar Team selection and has twice earned selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Lonnie Kauppila (Burbank High, 2010) junior, infielder, Stanford University: The former Bulldogs standout continues to enjoy success this season after being sidelined last year with an injury.
In 2012, Kauppila missed the final two months of his sophomore season with a knee injury. That injury cut short a productive season in which Kauppila hit .280, scored 16 runs, drove in 13 runs and had a .920 fielding percentage at second base and shortstop.
This season, Kauppila has produced for the Cardinal. Along with a .254 batting average (30 for 118), Kauppila has also scored 20 runs, drove in 14 runs, has 17 walks and six doubles. On defense, the infielder has a .953 fielding percentage.
Stanford snapped a six-game losing streak by sweeping rival Cal in a three-game series over the weekend. The Cardinal punctuated its Pac-12 Conference series at Cal with a 7-3 win Sunday, earning the first three-game sweep on the Golden Bears’ home turf since 2003. Stanford won each of its five games this season against Cal.
The Cardinal (29-21, 14-13 in conference) posted a double-digit hit total for the day, knocking around the Golden Bears’ pitching corps for 14 hits. Stanford collected 41 hits in the series at Evans Diamond.
After being blanked in the first two innings, Stanford posted four runs over the next three frames to claim a 4-1 lead. Kauppila opened the books with a single and scored on a Justin Ringo double to the wall in the third.
Kauppila capped his three-for-four day with an RBI-single in the eighth to help give Stanford attain a 6-2 advantage.
Kyle Hart (Burroughs High, 2009), senior, pitcher, University of Redlands: Hart ended his collegiate career by garnering all-conference honors for the Bulldogs.
Hart was named to the All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference second team. He was one of six Redlands players to earn all-conference accolades,
Hart earned his second all-conference honor. He compiled a 5-3 record, which spanned 61 1/3 innings in conference competition. Of the Bulldogs’ starters, Hart notched the best earned-run average, registering a 3.82 mark against SCIAC schools. Additionally, he allowed a .289 opponent-batting-average while fanning 34 opponents. Moreover, he earned a crucial win against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the opening game of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
On the season, Hart finished 6-5 with a 4.16 ERA over 71 1/3 innings. He also struck out 38.
The Bulldogs closed out their season with a 22-18 overall record and advanced to the first-ever SCIAC Postseason Tournament after tying for third place in the regular-season standings. In the tournament May 4, the Bulldogs lost to No. 1 seed Cal Lutheran, 5-2, then fell to Pomona-Pitzer, 14-2.
Daisy Beltran (Burbank High, 2008), senior, outfielder, Cal State Dominguez Hills: The former All-Area player for the Bulldogs ended her career with the Toros by starting in 56 of the team’s 59 games.
Along with a .192 average (24 for 125), Beltran also collected 10 runs batted in, scored 17 runs and had nine walks. In the outfield, she had a .963 fielding percentage.
Dominguez Hills saw its season come to an end Saturday with a 6-2 loss to Humbolt State in an NCAA Super Regional game. Beltran didn’t get a hit in two at-bats in the game. The Toros ended the season with a 37-24 record.