ROCKWALL, Texas - Tied for the lead after 53 holes,
Leandro Mihaich came to the 18th where he had parred this same exact hole twice not 24 hours earlier. But on Tuesday, Apr. 15, a five-foot birdie putt stood between him and his Lone Star Conference individual crown which he donned a year ago. And he sunk it.
After coming into the day in third place, the two-time First Team All-Conference selection put together a near-flawless final round of golf, recording just one bogey to 14 pars and three birdies, including the title winner on 18.
With the help of Mihaich's 2-under 70 and event-total 2-under 214, No. 7 Oklahoma Christian shot 7-over 295 on the final round to finish first among the 11-team field with a 54-hole score of 7-over 871. The top finish has the Eagles as the No. 1 seed heading Wednesday's medal match play semifinals.
Joey Lewis completed the best showing of his OC career with a fourth-place even-par 216, holding a share of the lead until the 17th hole. Lewis, who came into the tournament as OC's five bag, making just his fifth appearance in the maroon-and-gray lineup of the season, recorded the ninth-most pars (35) of anyone in the field.
Oskari Nikku finished tied for 11th after a 3-over 75 day, posting a 4-over 220 across the three rounds. Nikku finished the stroke play portion of the championships with the second most birdies (13) of anyone in the field.
Exequiel Rodriguez posted a tied-for-18th finish with a 7-over 223. Rodriguez, joined by Lewis, played the course's par 3s 1-under par, which was tied for the third best mark of the field, helping OC as a team play the short holes 3-over for the stroke play portion of the tournament. The next closest team sat at 7-over for the par 3s.
Vertti Perala rounded out the five-bag for the Eagles with an 11-over 227, climbing three spots up the leaderboard on the final day with a 3-over 75.
No. 7 Oklahoma Christian will be one of four teams returning the Rockwall Golf Course Wednesday, Apr. 16 for the medal match play part of the championships. As the No. 1 seed, OC will face the four seed Midwestern State Mustangs in the semifinals. Nikku will kick off the individual matches against MSU's James Perry at 8 a.m., with the next match following in six-minute increments.
Following the two semifinal matches, the two remaining teams will meet to determine the 2025 LSC Men's Golf Champion at approximately 1:30 p.m.
