College notes: UM, MSU women's golf make NCAAs -- in different ways

Michigan State's women's golf team breezed into the final round of the NCAA championships.

Michigan advanced, too, albeit in dramatic fashion.

At the Columbus, Ohio, Regional on Wednesday, Michigan sophomore Elodie Van Dievoet drained an 18-foot putt on her final hole -- breaking a tie with Colorado, and sending the Wolverines to the NCAA championships for a second consecutive year, and third time overall.

The NCAA championships are May 19-24 in Sugar Grove, Illl.

"As I arrived on the green, I asked Coach, 'Do I have to make this?" said Van Dievoet, who used a wedge from 105 yards to 18 feet from the hole. "Coach just looked at me and smiled and said, 'I think it's best if you make it.' I didn't expect that answer. So then I thought to myself, let's make this.

"All I know is I didn't want to leave it short. I was pretty confident about the right-to-left putt, and it just went in. I couldn't be happier to be able to help this team advance. That is what it was, a team effort, and to be part of that is pretty special."

Van Dievoet led Michigan with a 221 three-round total, including a final-round 76.

Junior Megan Kim had a fantastic finish, too, to spur the Wolverines, making birdie on three of her final five holes for a 74

Michigan finished sixth, a stroke ahead of Colorado.

In Athens, Ga., meanwhile, Michigan State finished third in its regional, tied for the best showing in program history. This is the Spartans' first trip to the NCAA championships since 2014, but their 11th appearance in the last 17 years.

Freshman Paz Marfa Sans led Michigan State at 216, including a final-round 71.

“We played great and were in a comfortable position all day,” Michigan State coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “It was a nice day and we had enough players playing solid golf that we just needed to stay where we were to get to the national championships.”

Men's golf regionals start Monday. Michigan and Michigan State are in the same regional, in Sammamish, Wash.

Stunned, again

An 8 seed over a 1 seed? If it seems a little too familiar, well, it is.

Western Michigan softball stunned the regular-season champion, Central Michigan, 3-1, in the opener of the Mid-American Conference tournament.

Broncos senior Abby Stoney hit a huge, two-run homer off Chippewas ace Rachael Knapp in the sixth inning, sending Western Michigan on in the winner's bracket. The Chippewas will have to dig their way out of the loser's bracket in the double-elimination tournament in Akron, Ohio.

This is the latest upset by Western Michigan over Central Michigan. In the quarterfinals of the MAC women's basketball tournament, the Broncos beat the Chippewas, 67-63.

Western Michigan (24-27) advances to face No. 4 seed Kent State at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Central Michigan (36-14) plays No. 5 seed Ball State at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

An early night

The double-elimination Horizon League softball tournament is under way, too. And there was a bit of a controversy Wednesday night.

In Chicago, No. 3 seed Valparaiso was credited with a 1-0 victory over No. 6 Oakland. Rain interrupted the game in the fifth inning, and the game was suspended -- and declared official. Why it couldn't just be suspended and made up from the fifth inning on Thursday, I have no clue. But that's the Horizon League's rule, I guess.

Valparaiso's Gabby Magnifico hit a home run in the second inning, and that held up.

Oakland (20-25) will play No. 5 seed Detroit Mercy (15-33), a 2-1 loser in eight innings to Wright State, at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Chips celebrate

In a thrilling baseball game in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday, Central Michigan beat nationally ranked Michigan, 4-3, in walk-off fashion.

Rochester Hills senior Alex Borglin had a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the‌ ninth inning to kick off the celebration for the Chippewas (26-22).

Central Michigan left the bases loaded in the eighth inning, then watched Michigan take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning. It seemed Central Michigan was positioned for a second tough loss in as many days to Michigan (36-12).

But, not so much.

"The resilience, we talk about it, we've talked about it all year," Central Michigan coach Steve Jaksa said. "I know they really wanted to get the W because of (Tuesday), and we were right there.

Central Michigan is 13-5 in league play and leads the Mid-American Conference West Division entering this weekend's series at Toledo.

Still searching

Some updates on the state's two big athletic-director searches.

* At Eastern Michigan, which is replacing Heather Lyke (Pittsburgh): Interim athletic director Christian Spears is not a candidate for the full-time job, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since he's on the school's 12-person search committee. Spears expressed interest in being Lyke's replacement, but was rebuffed. The deadline to apply for the job, via the national search firm, is May 25, with interviews scheduled to begin in June.

* At Central Michigan, which is replacing Dave Heeke (Arizona): All four finalists -- Mike Harrity (Notre Dame), Chris King (Texas-Rio Grande Valley), Michael Alford (Oklahoma) and Marie Tuite (San Jose State) -- have been interviewed, with Tuite the last to interview Tuesday. Tuite is said to be a favorite of many in the department, given her local connection (Livonia) and ties to Central Michigan. A final decision could come this week or next.

This and that

* Michigan women's basketball, winners of the 2017 Women's National Invitation Tournament, will participate in the 2017-18 preseason WNIT. Matchups will be announced at a later date.

* Speaking of UM women's hoops, guard Kysre Gondrezick remains listed on the roster on the team's website. During the Wolverines' postseason run, the former Miss Michigan Basketball took a personal, indefinite leave of absence.

* Michigan State junior Autumn Bailey and Michigan junior Claire Kieffer-Wright have been picked to participate in the Big Ten's Foreign Volleyball Tour next month. One player from each Big Ten team is on the roster, which will travel to Italy, Austria and Slovenia from June 17-28.

tpaul@detroitnews.com
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