BALTIMORE – Evan Brown finished Monday's 36 holes at 9-under par to enter a three-way tie for first place, leading the Loyola University Maryland golf team to a tie for third at the VCU Invitational at The Country Club of Virginia's Tuckahoe Creek Course.
 
As a team, the Greyhounds are tied with host Virginia Commonwealth at 19-under par 557, one shot out behind second-place James Madison and four shots shy of Virginia Tech which leads at 23-under.
 
Loyola's 15-under as a team in the second round set a single-round school record. All eight of the rounds the Greyhounds counted in their scoring were at or under par. Loyola had eight total under-par rounds during the day.
 
Brown teed off from the 14^th hole to start his rounds, and by the time he was through with the 18^th hole, he had moved to 2-under with a pair of birdies on 16 and 18. He strung together four-consecutive pars to start the front-nine, birdied the par-5 fifth hole and then had four more pars to close the stretch.
 
After a bogey on the par-3 10th, Brown rolled in a birdie on the 11^th and finished with three pars in a row to close first round at 3-under 69, tying him for fifth after 18 holes.
 
The junior opened his second round with four-straight pars before carding a pair of birdies on the 18^th and first holes, a pair of par fives. Three more pars led into a stretch of three birdies in four holes to put him at 5-under for the second round.
 
He had his first over-par hole of his round with a bogey on the ninth, but he came back to close his second 18 with two birdies and as many pars on the last four holes. He played the course's par fives at 6-under on Monday, birding six and parring two.
 
Brandon Berry delivered two strong rounds for the Greyhounds and sits in a tie for 11^th at 4-under. The junior opened his day with an even-par 72, but he moved up 15 spots in the second round, shooting a 4-under 68 with birdies on two of his last five holes.
 
Carlo Pizzano made his collegiate debut with a 1-over 73 in the first round, but he shaved five shots off that score to go 4-under 68 on the second 18. He moved up 20 spots to tie for 20^th after 36 holes. After shooting 2-over on the course's back nine during his first round, Pizzano was 4-under on the track during his second.
 
Nick Mejia turned in identical 1-under 71s on Monday, tying for 26^th after two rounds. He shot 4-under on the back nine during his second round to get back into red numbers after shooting 3-over on the front.
 
Preston Ball finished Monday tied for 34^th after shooting two even-par 72s. The Greyhounds lone senior playing this week started his second round with two-straight birdies and after making the turn even through 11 holes, he had seven-consecutive pars to close his day.
 
Two individuals played for the Greyhounds on Monday, each with good success. Matt Malits shot 1-over 73 during his first 18, but he came back to go 4-under 68 and tie with Pizzano for 20^th. Turner Foster made his collegiate debut by shooting 70-72, ending up in a 26^th with Mejia and others at 2-under.
 
The Greyhounds and Rams were just one shot back of James Madison, but they finished two shots in front of Old Dominion in fifth. Maryland is sixth five shots back of the Greyhounds, while Richmond is 11 shots behind and Boston College 12.
 
Play will begin Tuesday with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. The Greyhounds will play the final 18 holes with players from the two teams in front of them, Virginia Tech and James Madison.