STATESBORO, Ga. – Competing in the Georgia Southern Individual Collegiate event, ETSU’s Sam Espinosa carded his first collegiate top-10 finish, tying for ninth. Meanwhile, Austin Carter concluded the tournament with a top-25 appearance, his first of the season.
 
The event began on Sunday with 36 holes of action at the Georgia Southern University Golf Course. Espinosa started the event with an opening round of 1-under-par (71), his lowest career round as a Buccaneer. The opening-round 71 positioned the Pedrena, Spain, native in a tie for third overall. The second round saw much of the same action as Espinosa fired yet another 1-under-par (71), putting him in a tie for third place with 142 (-2) heading into the final round on Monday.
 
The ETSU freshman responded with a 3-over-par round of 75 in the final round of the tournament, falling six slots in the standings. However, the first two rounds sparked Espinosa into a top-10 finish, tying Wei Wei Gao at 1-over-par (217).
 
Carter started off his tournament just one stroke behind his teammate, carding an even-par (72), matching his low round of the season. The even-par score positioned Carter in a tie for eighth heading into the afternoon tee time. The Kingsport, Tennessee, native then turned in a 1-over-par (73) in the second round, falling just one spot to a tie for ninth. Monday’s round proved to be tougher as Carter finished with an 8-over-par (80), finishing the event tied for 25th overall at 9-over-par (225).
 
Jake Maples of Georgia Southern won the event with an overall score of 6-under-par (210), followed by Virginia’s Andrew Orischak with a tournament of 5-under-par (211). Hunter Dunagan rounded out the top three with a 3-under-par (213).
 
The Bucs will return to action when ETSU travels to Tallahassee, Florida, to take part in the Seminole Intercollegiate from Feb. 22-23.