2022 U.S. Amateur: Sam Bennett outlasts Ben Carr to win title at The Ridgewood Country Club

Sam Bennett of Texas got an early lead and never looked back.

Sam Bennett hasn’t been shy about his intentions.

The 22-year-old fifth-year senior at Texas A&M has been boisterous and bombastic all week at the 2022 U.S. Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. The third-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Bennett, from Madisonville, Texas, has gone through a tumultuous gauntlet to get into Sunday’s championship match, yet he never lacked confidence at any point in any match.

He often called himself the best player in the field throughout the week. He proved it Sunday.

Bennett claimed the 122nd U.S. Amateur championship with a 1-up victory against Ben Carr of Georgia. Bennett trailed only two holes during match play all week, beatings Nos. 8, 9, 10, 13 and 27 in the WAGR before Sunday’s championship match. Carr, who will be a fifth-year senior at Georgia Southern this coming school year, was ranked higher than Bennett’s other five opponents combined (No. 70).

“I have the utmost respect for Ben Carr,” Bennett said. “He wouldn’t go away. After lunch, he started dropping in putts and chips from everywhere. It made me pretty nervous. Luckily, I was able to finish it off with a good iron shot on the last.”

U.S. Amateur: Scoring | Photo gallery

By virtue of making the championship match, both players earned invitations to the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club and a likely invitation to the 2023 Masters.

Bennett is the first golfer from Texas since Kelly Kraft in 2011 to win the Havemeyer Trophy. He was 3 up after 18 holes, taking the lead for good on the ninth hole, and he never trailed against Carr.

To begin the afternoon session, Bennett won two of the first three holes before Carr responded, winning consecutive holes to make the deficit 3 down with 12 to play. Carr won the 28th hole, No. 10, to get to 2 down, but Bennett responded and won with a par on the 30th, No. 12, to go back 3 up.

On the next hole, the par-5 13th, both players hit their second shots out of bounds and bogeyed the hole. On the next hole, Bennett missed a par putt that lipped out, making his lead 2 up with 4 to play.

On the 34th hole, the par-4 16th, Bennett’s shot from the fairway ended up short in the rough. Carr, meanwhile, was in the rough and landed his wedge pin high, but his ball trickled to the back of the green. Both players made par, and moved to the par-5 17th. Carr got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie, and Bennett was unable to make a shorter birdie putt of his own, so they marched to the 18th.

Carr’s tee shot came to rest in the right rough while Bennett found the fairway. Then, Bennett stuck a tight approach to 15 feet while Carr’s ball ran long over the green. His chip shot came out soft, and Bennett nearly made his birdie putt, which clinched the match.

“I’m OK,” Carr said. “Congrats to Sam. He’s an awesome player and a great guy. It’s what you dream of as a kid, but it didn’t work out the way I wanted. I couldn’t have lost to a better competitor.”

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Notre Dame takes a few for the team, wins again in Statesboro Regional

One win away from the Super Regionals

It has not been easy for the Irish so far, but you wouldn’t know it by the results. Once again, Notre Dame scored late and held off their opponent, this time host Georgia Southern feeling the luck of the Irish.

After falling behind by a run early, the Irish put together two runs, both solo home runs by [autotag]Jack Zyska[/autotag] and [autotag]Jack Brannigan[/autotag]. Georgia Southern would then battle back to take a 4-2 after top of the sixth. The Irish bats once again answered in the bottom of the inning, as [autotag]Zack Prajzner[/autotag] blasted a two-run home to even the score at four.

The Irish would then score two more runs in the bottom of the seventh in an unconventional way. Back-to-back hit-by-pitches with the bases loaded scored the go-ahead runs for the Irish, 6-4.

[autotag]Matt Bedford[/autotag] would then struggle but [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] has his back. Bedford allowed back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Findlay relieved him and promptly struck out back-to-back batters and got a ground out to end the inning. That wasn’t the end of Findlay’s brilliance, he would then shut down Georgia Southern in the top of the ninth, securing the win for the Irish, 6-4.

[autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] has now lead this team to one win away from a return to the Super Regionals, NCAA Baseball’s version of the ‘Sweet 16’ for the second consecutive season.

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Tale of the Tape: Individual Leaders – Notre Dame vs. Georgia Southern

Which team wins the leaders battle?

Notre Dame and Georgia Southern both will need to rely on their best players with very little time to rest. The Irish have relied on [autotag]Carter Putz[/autotag] and [autotag]David LaManna[/autotag] in particular to provide their offense this season. Of course, let’s not forget about [autotag]Brooks Coetzee[/autotag]’s power. On the pitching side, [autotag]John Michael Bertrand[/autotag] probably won’t be available for this next game, but that’s why you have options like [autotag]Jack Findlay[/autotag] on your hands.

Meanwhile, the Eagles definitely won’t have ace Ty Fisher available after he threw a complete-game shutout against UNC Greensboro earlier in the day. Perhaps that means Ga’Von Wray will have to pick up the slack? On the flip side, the offense relies heavily on Jesse Sherrill and Noah Ledford, and they surely will receive inspiration from the home crowd. That’s not to take away from the rest of the lineup, but the Irish will be in business if they can hold those two in check.

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Tale of the Tape: Team Stats – Notre Dame vs. Georgia Southern

Can the Irish win again?

The weather forced Notre Dame to wait a while, but it eventually completed a 3-2 victory over Texas Tech in its NCAA Tournament opener. Now, the Irish get to face Georgia Southern, host of the Statesboro Regional. You’ll immediately notice that the Irish have the clear edge in pitching, at least as far as ERA and strikeout/walk ratio. The question is whether the Irish relievers pitched too much in the previous game to the point where that advantage will be tempered.

Meanwhile, the Eagles arguably have a slight advantage on offense. Sure, the Irish have slightly bigger numbers in batting average and home runs, but the on-base percentage and the ability to score runs put them somewhat over the top. At the same time, did the eight runs they scored on 12 hits in their shutout win over UNC Greensboro tire them out? Either way, the hitters have to be grateful they have a few hours’ rest before having to back out there.

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The rain can’t stop Notre Dame, wins game 1 in Statesboro Regional

The Irish get the opening game win!!!

The Irish figured to get an ace like performance from starter [autotag]John Michael Bertrand[/autotag], but the rain would have none of that. Notre Dame’s star pitcher went just one inning before a lengthy rain delay and [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] decided to have his bullpen take it the rest of the way.

Jarrett’s move was genius, as relievers [autotag]Liam Simon[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Rao[/autotag] shut down the Texas Tech bats. They combined for 15 strike-outs and the Irish had just enough offense for a “comfortable” lead throughout the contest. It was a [autotag]David LaManna[/autotag] two-RBI double in the bottom of the first, prior to the rain delay, that gave the Irish the cushion.

Unfortunately for the Irish, the Red Raiders scored two-runs in the top of the eighth to even the score at two. As we have seen all season, this group just doesn’t quit. Once again LaManna was in the middle of the action, reaching on a catcher’s interference. [autotag]Jack Penney[/autotag] bunted him over to second before [autotag]Jared Miller[/autotag] ran for LaManna, who promptly stole third. His pressure got to TT, as a wild pitch would allow Miller to score to give the Irish the lead back, 3-2.

Reliever [autotag]Jackson Dennies[/autotag] then entered to top of the ninth to close out the game for the Irish. It wouldn’t be easy as he retired one batter before allowing a single, which led Jarrett to bring in [autotag]Aidan Tyrell[/autotag] to close it out and that’s exactly what he did.

Due to the rain delay, the other scheduled game, Georgia Southern against UNC-Greensboro was not played so the remaining schedule is a bit up in the air. What we do know is that the Irish are now in the winners bracket as they get set to play their second game of the Regional.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Georgia Southern Eagles Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 Georgia Southern players going into the 2022 college football season?

Georgia Southern Eagles Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Georgia Southern Eagles Preview 
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will HappenSchedule 

College Football Rankings, Season Predictions: Sun Belt Spring Version 2022

Sun Belt spring football rankings and predictions with best and worst case scenarios for every team

Sun Belt college football rankings and predictions with the realistic best and worst case records and quick analysis – the 2022 spring version.


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The Sun Belt just got a whole lot bigger, cooler, and more interesting with a shocking expansion that should take the conference up another level.

FCS powerhouse James Madison gets to join in right away, and Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss were able to leave Conference USA and get in for the 2022 football season.

Here’s the problem – several Sun Belt programs that made strides last year are going to have tougher schedules to deal with. Several teams should be better, but might not have the results to show it.

The rankings are based on how good the teams should be and not the final projected records. Keeping in mind that this all could/might/will change when we make the final calls in August …

2022 College Football Schedules By Teams: All 131 Schools

13,566 in attendance for Vols’ season-opening series

13,566 in attendance for Tennessee’s season-opening baseball series against Georgia Southern.

No. 16 Tennessee (3-0) completed its sweep of Georgia Southern Sunday, defeating the Eagles, 14-0, at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols had 16 hits in the contest. Six Tennessee pitchers combined to throw a three-hitter against the Eagles (0-3) before an announced attendance of 4,580.

Tennessee took a 1-0 lead in the first with a scoring single by Jordan Beck that drove in Seth Stephenson.

Tennessee added two runs in the third inning on and RBI single by Beck and a sacrifice fly by Drew Gilbert.

The Vols added two runs in the fourth inning as Evan Russell had an RBI double and later came home when Stephenson doubled.

Tennessee scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Trey Lipscomb had a two-run single and Drew Gilbert drove in another run when Luc Lipcius scored on a ground-rule double. Jorel Ortega hit a RBI triple and scored on Logan Chambers’ sacrifice fly.

In the seventh inning, Tennessee scored three times as Cortland Lawson had an RBI single and Kyle Booker added an RBI double. Jared Dickey drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Dickey closed the Vols’ scoring with an RBI single in the eighth inning.

On the mound, Camden Sewell earned a victory, pitching two innings in relief. He surrendered one hit and one walk.

Tennessee’s home run leaders following season-opening series

Tennessee’s RBI leaders following season-opening series

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Postgame social media buzz following Tennessee’s series sweep against Georgia Southern

A look at postgame social media buzz following Tennessee’s series sweep against Georgia Southern.

Tennessee (3-0) concluded its season-opening series Sunday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols defeated Georgia Southern (0-3), 14-0. Tennessee’s win completed a series sweep of the Eagles.

The Vols defeated Georgia Southern, 9-0, Friday on opening day.

Tennessee claimed a series win Saturday, defeating the Eagles, 10-3.

Following Tennessee’s Sunday win is postgame social media buzz below.

Tennessee’s home run leaders following season-opening series

A look at Tennessee’s home run leaders following its season-opening series against Georgia Southern.

Tennessee concluded its season-opening series Sunday against Georgia Southern at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tennessee’s 14-0 win on Sunday completed a series sweep against the Eagles.

The Vols defeated Georgia Southern, 9-0, Friday on opening day.

Tennessee claimed a series win Saturday, defeating the Eagles, 10-3.

Tennessee’s home run leaders following its first series of the 2022 season are listed below.