02/14 at 12:51 AM

The Auburn softball team opened the first day of the Tiger Invitational with a 7-1 win over Eastern Kentucky and an 11-3 win over Missouri-Kansas City on Friday afternoon at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Tigers return to action today at 3 p.m. against Western Kentucky in their only game of the day.

Auburn improved to 8-1 with the two wins. Eastern Kentucky fell to 0-2, while UMKC dropped to 0-6.

In the second game vs. UMKC, Jenee Loree improved to 5-0 in throwing a complete game. Loree allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Samantha Hurst (0-2) allowed nine runs, seven earned, on 11 hits in four innings of work in taking the loss.

The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first after taking advantage of three walks issued by Hurst. Myesha Finney walked to open the game and moved to second when Katie Colton walked behind her. After a fly out and a ground out, Elizabeth Eisterhold walked to load the bases.

Lauren Guzman singled through the left side to score Finney and Colton and give the Tigers a two-run lead.

Alexa Martinez pushed the lead to 3-0 for Auburn with a bloop single to center that scored Taryn Gray. Gray doubled to leadoff the bottom of the inning and moved to third on a balk.

UMKC took advantage of an Auburn error to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. Carli Slagle singled and moved to second on a sac bunt. After a ground out moved her to third, Kaele Curry hit a ground ball to Loree who threw to first. Martinez bobbled the throw at first, allowing Curry to reach and Slagle to score and cut the AU lead to 3-1.

Morgan Murphy increased the Auburn lead to 4-1 with a sharp single to center that scored Guzman in the top of the third. Guzman doubled with one out to get into scoring position. Lindsey Harrelson pinch-ran for Murphy and quickly stole second. The throw down was wild, however, and Harrelson advanced to third and came in to score on Gray’s sac fly to center. The run gave Auburn a 5-1 lead.

Still in the third, Martinez walked and moved to third on Finney’s two-out double to left. Colton followed with a single to center to score both runners and push the lead to 7-1.

The Tigers would take advantage of two UMKC errors in the fourth inning to plate two more runs and take a commanding 9-1 lead.

UMKC cut the deficit to 9-3 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. Pinch-hitter Lauren Rodrigues singled home Rashonda Stanley and Megan Vicino with two outs.

The Tigers tacked on a run in the sixth when Murphy singled home Guzman for a 10-3 lead.

In the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs but could only push across one run on a wild pitch. Colton scored from third on the wild pitch to give Auburn the final margin.

In game one, the Tigers used three home runs to score all their runs and cruise to a victory over Eastern Kentucky.

Anna Thompson improved to 3-1 after allowing one run, earned, on four hits in a complete-game victory. Thompson fanned four and walked five in seven innings of work. It was Thompson’s 30th career victory.

Stacey Toups took the loss to fall to 0-1. Toups allowed five runs, all earned, on two hits in 1.2 innings of work.

The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on Myesha Finney’s two-out grand slam. It was Finney’s third straight game with a home run and came with Amber Harrison (walk), Taryn Gray (walk) and Megan Mitchell (fielder’s choice) aboard.

Kyndall White kept the inning going with a solo home run to left to push the Auburn lead to 5-0. The home run was White’s second home run of the season.

The five runs were more than enough for Thompson. Through the first five innings, Thompson held Eastern Kentucky to just a pair of hits, with one in the first inning and one in the fifth.

Auburn added to its lead in the sixth when freshman Morgan Murphy’s first swing of the bat this season resulted in a two-run home run to left. It was Murphy’s first collegiate at-bat and was the third home run of the game for the Tigers.

Eastern Kentucky ended the Tigers’ shutout bid in the seventh with a pair of doubles from Pam Weber and Jena Handley before Thompson got the final out to end the game at 7-1.

Track picks up 3 wins in Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. - The Auburn track and field program had a strong showing Friday at the opening day of the Tyson Invitational, hosted by the University of Arkansas, winning three individual events.

Freshman Marcus Rowland remained undefeated in individual races this season, winning the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.66 seconds, matching his personal best which ranks tied for seventh best in the NCAA this year. He also had the top time in the prelims with a time of 6.67 seconds. Also in the 60-meter dash, senior Jerod Wims was 18th in 6.87 seconds.

Sophomore Joanna Atkins won the women’s 400 meters against a field of 64 with a season-best time of 53.22 seconds, which is just shy of her personal best of 52.95 that she set last year. There were only three better times in the NCAA this year entering the weekend.

Junior Felix Kiboiywo won the men’s Olympic Developmental mile with a personal-best time of 4:01.42, improving his NCAA provisional qualifying time and moving up to third on Auburn’s all-time indoor list. He finished more than four seconds ahead of the closest competitor.

Auburn also had some impressive performances in the invitational events contested Friday night. In the men’s 5,000 meters, junior Elkanah Kibet finished sixth in a loaded field in which the American record was broken. Kibet’s time of 13:53.05 ranks second in Auburn indoor history and provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championships with the fifth-best collegiate time in the nation. Freshman Girma Mecheso was 10th in the race in 14:25.89.

Later Friday evening, Holly Knight finished in sixth place in the women’s 3000 meters with a time of 9:35.63. Her time ranks fifth in Auburn indoor history, but was just shy of the time of 9:34 needed to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships.

“We had some very good performances today,” said head coach Ralph Spry. “This is a very, very competitive meet, and we really lined up and competed very well today. It was another great outing for Marcus, Joanna was very impressive in just her second 400-meter race, and our distance runners looked good. We’re off to a great start and hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow.”

In the women’s 60-meter dash, junior Shaquela Williams finished third in the consolation final and 11th overall with a personal-best time of 7.46 seconds. Sophomore Cache Armbrister placed sixth in the consolation final in 7.53 seconds. She posted a time of 7.55 in the prelims, but missed qualifying for the finals by .001 seconds. Freshman CeCe Williams was 24th with a time in the prelims of 7.64.

Junior Danielle Gilchrist finished 16th in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds, while sophomore Latoya Parkinson was 26th (8.80).

In the men’s 400 meters, sophomore Michael DeHaven was 31st (48.74) and sophomore Bernard Spivey was 36th (48.90). Sophomore Stephen Fly was 37th in the men’s 60-meter dash (7.01).

Meanwhile, the Tigers also had two athletes competing at the Iowa State Classic. Junior Valentina Srsa was 23rd in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 15.53 meters (50-11.5), and freshman Wesley Wright was 24th in the men’s weight throw with a toss of 16.58 meters (54-4.75).

Competition at both the Tyson Invitational and the Iowa State Classic concludes on Saturday.