SAN ANTONIO (February 13, 2012) – Behind Joakim Mikkelsen’s even-par day, the 32nd-ranked Baylor men’s golf is in second place Monday after two rounds of the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational.

Baylor – at 8-over 576 – is four strokes behind second-round leader Oklahoma (4-over 572). Texas Tech is in third at 9-over 577, followed by No. 50 Louisiana-Lafayette (12-over 580) and No. 27 Wichita State (18-over 586).

“We were off to a little bit of a rough start Monday,” head coach Greg Priest said. “Conditions were rough during the morning round with the wind and the rain. We struggled a bit, but it was good to get that first round back under our belts.”

Baylor senior Joakim Mikkelsen, ranked 85th nationally by Golfstat, shot matching rounds of 71 and is tied for fifth overall at even-par 142. Mikkelsen is three strokes behind co-leaders Abraham Ancer of Oklahoma and Andrew Noto of Louisiana-Lafayette at 3-under 139. Wichita State’s Tyler Gann and Oklahoma’s Riley Pumphrey are tied for third overall at 1-under 141.

After Mikkelsen was plagued by four bogeys on the front nine in round two, he birdied No. 11 and delivered an eagle on No. 15 to finish the day at even-par.

Senior Lorenzo Scotto and freshman Kyle Jones are tied for 13th at 2-over 144. Scotto shot a second-round 71, while Jones was the lone Baylor golfer to shoot under-par Monday with a second-round 70. Junior Jerry Ruiz is tied for 31st at 6-over 148, while individual Niclas Mansson is at 8-over 150, tied for 42nd overall.

“You can tell we are an experienced group by how our guys battled all day,” Priest said. “We bounced back on the back side with some good birdies. We’ve put ourselves in a good position for the final round.”

Ryan O’Rear, who finished the day tied for 50th at 9-over 151, birdied three of his final four holes in the second round to finish the afternoon with a 72.

The final round of the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational will tee off at 7:30 a.m. CST Tuesday. Live scoring will be available at www.GolfStat.com.