LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. — Francisco Solorza tied for fifth and Joshua Hong grabbed a share of 10th to help guide UTSA to a sixth-place finish at the Bell Bank “Pay It Forward” Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at Wigwam Resort (par 72/7,322 yards) in Litchfield Park.
Solorza posted the top finish and 54-hole total of his young collegiate career, as the redshirt freshman fired a 5-under-par 211 to earn a share of fifth. After opening with a 3-under 69, he countered a 75 in the second round with a collegiate-best 5-under 67 that moved up 22 places up the leaderboard on Tuesday. He bettered his previous best finish of eighth at the Military City Collegiate last month and eclipsed by one shot his previous top 54-hole tally of 212 registered earlier this month at the Golden Nugget Invitational.
Hong was one shot behind his teammate in a tie for 10th with a 4-under 212. The true freshman notched his fifth top 10 of the season and finished with a red number for the fifth time in nine events played.
Behind that tandem of Guadalajara, Mexico natives, the Roadrunners finished in sole possession of sixth place with a 2-under 862, only one shot behind Maryland and six back of No. 42 Arkansas State in the 17-team field. UTSA opened with a 4-under 284 and then bounced back from a 295 in round two with a 5-under 283 on Tuesday to move up three spots and secure its sixth top-10 team finish of the campaign.
Solorza’s final-round scorecard featured five birdies and an eagle-two on the 366-yard, par-4 15th hole. Teeing off from No. 10, he circled his number on the 180-yard, par-3 11th and again on the 535-yard, par-5 14th before recording his eagle, which was followed immediately by a two on the 170-yard, par-3 16th to put him 5-under for the round. He then logged back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1-2 to move to 7-under for the day before settling for bogeys on Nos. 6-7.
Hong turned in a 73 in Monday morning’s round before posting two straight red numbers with a 4-under Monday afternoon followed by a 71 today. He wrote down five birdies during his final 18 holes, including four on the back nine, and finished with a dozen for the week.
Brayden Bare ended up in a tie for 41st with a 4-over 220. The redshirt junior from Waco started his tournament with a 4-under 68 and then bounced back from a 79 with a 73 in the final round.
Logan Vargas and Sam Acharya rounded out the UTSA lineup in 60th (74-78-72—224) and 73rd (78-74-75—227), respectively.
Marquette won the team title with an 843, followed by Iowa State (847) and Nebraska (854).
Maryland’s Emil Riegger claimed the individual crown with a 10-under 206 (66-69-71).
The Roadrunners will be back in action on April 6-7 when they travel to Missouri for the Tiger Intercollegiate.
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