Eastern women’s golf squad played its way into contention Monday going into the final round of the Butler Spring Invitational at Preswick Country Club.

The Panthers will face only a four-stroke deficit to Xavier University and has three players tied for 11th place or higher individually.

Junior Brooke Pellock ended the day in third place by shooting a 10-over-par 82 and is only a single stroke away from the pair of Xavier golfers Jill Stein and Sarah Sparks.

Stein posted one of two under 40 nine-hole rounds by posting a back nine 39. Senior Tyra Fredrick is also in perfect position to win the tournament after posting an 84, which places the upperclassmen tied for sixth place.

The other Panther senior Kristin Hoff shot a 14-over-par 86 which puts the Wisconsin native in 11th place and five strokes behind the leaders.

The final Panther player on the Top 20 leaderboard is junior Amanda Minchin, who carded a front nine 41 but fell apart down the stretch to post a back nine 46 and a total of 87. This performance puts the Canadian born player in 13th position and was the fourth and final score used by Eastern on the day.

However, Xavier University will be tough for the Panthers to catch as the Musketeers had its four golfers placing 13th of higher.

The host, Butler University, finished the day third but 18 strokes off Xavier’s pace, and the Bulldogs couldn’t take advantage of native ability with no golfers placing in the top 10.

Bulldogs senior Kristi Laskowski had the most disappointing back nine by posting a 45 after leading the tournament with a front nine 38.

Rounding out the standings were Loyola, Cleveland State, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and Oakland.

Severe showers and high winds are the forecast for Tuesday’s final round, so unless it’s deemed unplayable, players could face extreme conditions to finish the tournament.