MIAMI — The Louisville Cardinals rallied from a two-run hole for a 5-3 win over the Auburn softball team Sunday in the championship game of the FIU Tournament.

The Tigers dropped to 4-1 on the season, while Louisville improved to 5-0 and claimed the FIU Tournament title. Auburn returns to action Tuesday at Jacksonville State. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

Anna Thompson (1-1) took the loss after throwing just 1 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits with one walk, one strikeout and one hit batter. Jenee Loree tossed the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and striking out three.

Kristen Wadwell (3-0) earned the win in relief, throwing 6.0 innings and scattering five hits. Tori Collins started, but was pulled after 1.0 inning. Collins gave up three runs, all earned, on three hits.

Louisville took advantage of an Auburn error to get their first run of the game. Melissa Roth opened the bottom of the first with a line drive to left that Tatiana Fernandez dropped. After a sac bunt moved Roth to second, Kristi Cunningham brought her home with a double to left and a 1-0 Louisville lead.

The Tigers quickly erased the deficit, taking the lead in the top of the second inning. Back-to-back singles to open the frame by Myesha Finney and Elizabeth Eisterhold put runners at second and first, respectively. Lauren Guzman was hit by a pitch to load bases with no outs.

Alexa Martinez followed with a double to the wall in center that cleared the bases and gave Auburn a 3-1 lead.

The Cardinals responded in the bottom of the second, however, when Vanessa James singled home a pair of runs to tie the game at 3.

Loree was then brought in for Thompson with runners at second and third and one out. Chelsea Bemis followed with a sac fly to right that plated another run and gave Louisville a 4-3 edge. A wild pitch by Loree allowed James to score and push the Louisville lead to 5-3.

Wadwell held the Tigers in check from there. A pair of singles in the top of the seventh from Taryn Gray and Amber Harrison gave the Tigers a chance, but Wadwell got a two infield pop ups to end the game and seal the Cardinals’ win.

Women’s tennis falls at TCU
FORT WORTH, Texas — In a hotly contested dual between No. 25 Auburn and No. 21 TCU, it was an upset in the No. 1 singles spot that proved to be the deciding factor in the Horned Frogs’ 4-3 win over the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

The Tigers, now 1-4, battled down to the wire by winning three matches in singles play.

The deciding match came down on Court 1 between Auburn’s sixth-ranked Fani Chifchieva and TCU’s No. 12 Nina Munch-Soegaard.

Chifchieva claimed a first set 6-3 victory, only to be answered back with a 6-1 win in the second set by Munch-Soegaard. In the decisive third set, it was Munch-Soegaard who emerged victorious with a 7-6 win to clinch the dual win for the Horned Frogs.

“I’m disappointed that we dug a big hole against a very good team, but I am proud of the way we fought and nearly pulled it out,” head women’s tennis coach Tim Gray said. “Fani had a team match point at 6-5 in the third set, but the TCU No. 1 played great and showed a lot of poise and stayed in it. We are giving ourselves chances and our time will come if we keep working.”

The All-American duo of Melissa Koning and Alex Haney picked up the lone doubles win for the Tigers in the No. 1 slot, a 9-7 upset over the 16th-ranked team of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska. It is the first time in spring action that the 22nd-ranked team has played together. Despite the win, the doubles point had already been decided in favor of TCU.

Moving into singles action, No. 41 Koning evened the team score at 1-1 with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Katariina Tuohimaa. TCU regained the lead in the No. 5 position with Kayla Duncan’s straight set win over Auburn’s Myrthe Molenveld, 6-0, 6-2.

TCU’s Gaby Mastromarino then topped Auburn freshman Daniela Vukadinovic, 7-5, 6-1, to give the Horned Frogs a 3-1 advantage.

Senior Whitney Chappell brought the Tigers back within a point with a win in the No. 4 spot, a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anna Sykorska. Haney then evened the team score at 3-3 with an upset of her own in the No. 2 position. Ranked 86th, Haney rallied for the three-set win to knock off No. 49 Macall Harkins, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0.

The Tigers will make their home debut for the 2009 season on Feb. 21 with a doubleheader against UAB and Georgia State. Action at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will get underway at 10 a.m., with Auburn first taking on UAB, followed with a 4 p.m. meeting against Georgia State.