ATLANTA – Georgia State freshman men's golfer Jonathan Grey shot a second round 3-over 75 in difficult conditions to stands in a tie for 11^th with 18 holes to play at the NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge, La. With just Saturday's final round to play, Grey is within striking distance of advancing to the NCAA National Championship scheduled for later this month at the Capital City Club – Crabapple in nearby Alpharetta.

For Grey to advance out of the NCAA Regionals, he must finish at the top golfer whose team does not advance to the NCAA Championship. Currently, that would mean he needs to get ahead of two golfers, one of which is two strokes ahead and another that is just one stroke ahead.

The freshman's 3-over round put him at 3-over thru 36 holes following an even par, 72, on Thursday. Friday's round included five birdies, three bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey at the par four, fourth hole.

The Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, who is currently ranked No. 50 in the nation by GolfStat, was 2-under after six holes, but winds picked up in the afternoon leading him to a 39 on his second nine which today was the front side.

“Jonathan fought hard all day today,” commented head coach Joe Inman. “Just looking at the scores of some of the top collegiate golfers in the country, you can easily see how hard the course was playing later in the day.

“He is still in great position heading into the final round. All he has to do is play the type of golf he is capable of on Saturday and I think there will be a good chance of him advancing to nationals.”

Grey currently leads seven players ranked in the top 100 in the country, including four that are in the top 50.

Grey gave the Panthers a representative in the NCAA Regionals for the first time since Tom Sherreard made an individual appearance in 2010. As a team, Georgia State has made it in 11 of the last 15 years.

The Kent, England native earned 11 top 25 finishes in 12 events, compiling a 72.20 scoring average and a career-low 67 on three occasions. His scoring average is the sixth lowest in a single season in school history, while compiling 19 of 35 rounds at par or better this year.

No. 10 Florida continues to lead by eight strokes over No. 2 Alabama. The Gators shot a 4-over, 292 on Friday and stand at 2-over for the tournament with the Crimson Tide at 10-over. Sun Belt foe No. 47 South Alabama is third at 17-over, followed by No. 26 Houston in fourth at 20-over. No. 50 Coastal Carolina and No. 17 LSU are tied for fifth at 21-over.

A trio of Florida Gators are atop the individual leaderboard. No. 65 T.J. Vogel leads the way at 3-under par following a second round 71. No. 29 Tyler McCumber is second at 2-under, followed by Eric Banks and Alabama's Scott Strohmeyer in third at 1-under. Northwestern's Nicholas Losole and Alabama's Justin Thomas, ranked 17^th in the country, are tied for fifth at 1-over.

The best individual finish by a Panther came in the 2008 NCAA Regional when Joel Sjoholm, a senior at the time, finished fifth. That finish was good enough to send him to the NCAA Championship that year where he finished tied for 13^th and earned First Team All-America honors.

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