The Arizona men's golf team moved up in the regional standings Tuesday but still has a deficit to overcome Wednesday if it wishes to continue its season.
UA moved from 12th to ninth place at the Institute Golf Club in Morgan Hill, Calif., after shooting a 9-over 297 in the second round, leaving it with a 19-over 595 total.
The Wildcats must finish in the top five to advance to the NCAA Championships at Scottsdale starting next week. UA is 11 shots behind fifth-place BYU (584).
Mississippi State is in first place with a 574, followed by Florida State (577), Baylor (579) and Pepperdine (582). Cal (589) is sixth, followed by Louisville (590) and NC State (590).
Arizona's total was one shot better than its 298 Monday, and it was the only team to have a better second round than opening round.
Chase Sienkiewicz led UA in the second round with an even-par 72 and moved up to a tie for 18th among individuals with a 2-over 146.
Other Wildcat scores Tuesday were Tiger Christensen (72, 148 total, tied for 27th), Filip Jakubcik (77, 150 total, tied for 40th), Sam Sommerhauser (78, 154 total, tied for 56th) and Zach Pollo (75, 154 total, tied for 56th).
"We had a great response from all our guys today after a challenging first day," said UA coach Jim Anderson in a news release. "I am proud of our team's mindset to claw our way back up the leaderboard today, which was a testament to our resiliency as a team. We've got some work still to do tomorrow if we want to advance on, but our guys have shown they're up for the challenge. We will take tomorrow shot by shot and play the best round we can and see how the chips fall at the end of the day."
