DADE CITY, Fla. – The Valdosta State men's golf team struggled in the first round of the Saint Leo Invitational, but roared back to a tie for ninth in the second round as play was suspended due to darkness. 
 
The Blazers are tied with Barton College as VSU completed 16 holes in the second round before suspension of play at even par overall.  VSU opened the tournament with a 7-over 295 and moved up six spots from 15^th with the 7-under so far in the second round. The second round will conclude at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start and the 18-team field will then move into the third round upon completion of the second. 
 
Fans can click on the link to the right of this story for live stats of the tournament.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for a complete recap Wednesday afternoon.
 
Host Saint Leo and Lynn are tied for first at a blistering 20-under, while NAIA power Keiser is third at 18-under for the two combined rounds at this point.  Saint Leo is 16-under for the second round, while Lynn and Keiser each are 11-under for the second round.  Nova Southeastern sits fourth at 10-under overall, followed by Barry and Gulf South Conference member Lee at 9-under.  Columbus State is one stroke back of Barry and Lee at 8-under for seventh, while Mount Olive holds a one stroke lead over VSU and Barton at 1-under.  Most of the field had finished a minimum of 14 holes before play was suspended on the par 72, 7,153-yard Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club course.
 
The Blazers reached 11-under in the second round, but came back a bit to 7-under through 16 holes.  VSU had two key eagles in the second round as it is second among the 18-team field in eagles behind Saint Leo with four.  Senior AJ Ouimet had an eagle on the par 4, No. 8 hole, while senior Wesley Hansen eagled the par 5 No. 9 hole.  The Blazers recorded 20 birdies in the round as all five players have two holes to play tomorrow morning in the second round.  VSU had just 12 birdies in the first round and no eagles. The 7-under second round score by VSU is tied with Barry for the fourth-best round score thus far.
 
Lynn's Agustin Errazuriz leads the field with a 10-under score, while Saint Leo's Oliver Lilliedahl is second at 9-under.  Lynn's Eloy Vigil sits third at 8-under.  For the Blazers, sophomore Chase Weathers leads the way at 4-under and is tied for ninth.  Ouimet is tied for 52^nd at 2-over, while Hansen is tied for 59^th at 4-over.  Sophomore Gage Smith is tied for 68^th at 6-over and freshman Ryan Pollman is tied for 72^nd at 7-over.