TEMPE, Ariz. -- Texas A&M's Bronson Burgoon and Bobby Gates each fired three-under-par 69s on Saturday as the 10th-ranked Aggies surged into second place at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational at ASU's Karsten Golf Course.

A&M's 15-under (282-279=561) score trails leader Oregon (556) by five strokes going into Sunday's final round. The Ducks' Derek Sipe leads the individual standings by two shots at 13-under (65-66=131). Burgoon is tied for seventh at five-under (70-69=139).

No. 4 Southern California is in third (563), followed by Arizona (564), No. 18 Arizona State (564), New Mexico (568), No. 6 UNLV (569), Oklahoma (569), Texas Tech (571), California (574), San Diego State (582), Central Florida (583), Baylor (586), Arizona State "B" (591), Fresno State (592) and Kansas State (596).

All five A&M players are under par through two rounds and are in the top 25. Martin Piller (70-71=141) is tied for 16th, Gates (73-69=142) and Austin Schauer (72-70=142) are tied for 18th, and Chris Massoletti (70-73=143) is tied for 23rd.

"I'm really pleased with how we played today," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "No one is playing great but all of our guys are playing well. It was a good team effort and it put us in a position to win going into the final round."