SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Stanford mounted a back nine charge and pulled within one stroke of the lead on Tuesday after two rounds of the 73rd Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club.
The only team to break par in the 13-school tournament, the No. 21 Cardinal compiled a score of 4-under 346 and stands at even-par 700 after 36 holes. Host San Jose State retained the top-spot at 1-under 699. USC and Cal share third at 705.
Stanford senior Isaiah Salinda, who began the second round in a three-way tie for first place, earned sole possession with a 2-under 68. Coupled with Monday's career-best 64, he has a 36-hole score of 8-under 132, three strokes ahead of Kevin Velo and Sean Yu of San Jose State, Clay Feagler of Pepperdine and Cameron Henry of USC.
"I definitely thought it was a little tougher than yesterday," said Salinda, citing the firm conditions and challenging pin locations. "I kind of had to work for everything."
Salinda capped off his day with clutch birdies at 17 and 18.
Juniors Henry Shimp (67) and David Snyder (69) also broke par for the Cardinal, while freshman Daulet Tulebayev shot 70. Senior Brandon Wu added a 74.
Playing as individuals, freshmen Freddie Lee and Ethan Ng record 74 and 76, respectively.
The Cardinal, coming off an impressive 18-shot victory at The Goodwin in its last start, has produced nine wins at the Western Intercollegiate, the last in 2014. Seven Stanford golfers have collected individual titles, Maverick McNealy last accomplishing it in 2016.
"At the end of the day, the team win is the most important thing to me," said Salinda, who will seek his first collegiate victory.
Stanford begins the final round on Wednesday at 9:42 a.m. and is paired with San Jose State, USC and Cal. Golf Channel will provide live coverage from 1-4 p.m.
Live scoring is available at GoStanford.com.
