02/08 at 01:26 AM

MIAMI - Seniors Myesha Finney and Tatiana Fernandez drove in two runs apiece and the Tigers held off a seventh-inning rally as the Auburn softball team defeated No. 18 North Carolina, 6-5, to remain unbeaten in the FIU Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

Auburn defeated FIU 2-1 in nine innings in the first game of the day.

The Tigers (4-0) will close the tournament with an 8:30 a.m. game today against Louisville.

Freshman pitcher Jenee Loree (3-0) earned the win against the Tar Heels after holding UNC just five hits through six innings. Loree fanned six, walked one and hit one batter in her second collegiate start.

Anna Thompson earned her first save of the season, recording the final two outs of the game. Thompson entered the game after UNC scored four runs off Holly Ragsdale, who pitched one-third of an inning.

Thompson allowed one run, earned, on two hits and one strikeout. UNC dropped to 1-2 with the loss. Pitcher Constance Orr (0-1) took the loss after giving up one run, earned, on one hit in 2.0 innings. Lisa Norris started and gave up five earned runs in four innings of work.

Auburn jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning. Kayla Tatum walked and moved to third on a single to center by Fernandez, who moved to second on the throw to third. Finney followed with a ground ball to second, that Brittany Robinson fielded and threw home but failed to get Tatum from third.

Elizabeth Eisterhold followed with a single to center that plated Fernandez and pushed the Tigers’ lead to 2-0.

The Tigers extended their lead in the bottom of the second.

Megan Mitchell walked and moved to third on a two-out single to right by Kyndall White, who moved to second on the throw. Fernandez then laced a single off the pitcher’s glove to score Mitchell and give Auburn a 3-0 lead. Finney made it a 4-0 game with a single to left that scored White from third.

Fernandez drove in her second run of the night with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. It gave the Tigers a 5-0 lead and came with Mitchell aboard, after she drew a leadoff walk.

Taryn Gray pushed the Auburn lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Eisterhold doubled to begin the inning and was lifted for pinch-runner Cassie Trosclair. Trosclair moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a Gray’s ground out to short.

In game one, Kayla Tatum scored on a throwing error in the top of the ninth to give the Tigers a 2-1 victory over host FIU.

Freshman Jenee Loree (2-0) earned the win after throwing the final three innings in relief. Loree allowed one walk and fanned six. Auburn improved to 3-0 with the win.

Jennifer Gniadek (0-1) took the loss after giving up two runs, one earned, on five hits in 5.0 innings of relief work. FIU fell to 1-3 with the loss.

The Tigers missed a scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth. With one out, Myesha Finney singled and moved to third on a single to center by Elizabeth Eisterhold, who advanced to second on the relay throw. Barrett, however, was able to retire Lauren Guzman and Amber Harrison to strand the runners at second and third and keep the game scoreless.

Auburn starter Anna Thompson was equally effective for the Tigers. The Huntsville native held the Golden Panthers to a pair of hits, only one through the infield, through the first four innings.

Thompson retired seven straight to open the game and fanned six through four innings.

In the top of the sixth, Tatiana Fernandez singled to open the inning and was lifted for pinch-runner Katie Colton. A sac bunt by Finney moved Colton to second. Eisterhold fanned for the second out and Guzman then reached on an infield single to short, keeping Colton at second. Harrison then stroked a single to center that plated Colton, giving Auburn a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Panthers, however, rallied in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game. Desiree Fink singled to open the inning and moved to second on a sac bunt. A wild pitch by Thompson moved Fink to third and Jessica Landau’s two-out single to right brought Fink home with the tying run.

In the top of the ninth with the tie-breaker rule in play, Lindsey Harrelson begin the inning on second and moved to third on a sac bunt by Megan Mitchell. Harrelson, however, was out at home during a rundown on a pickoff throw. Tatum followed by singling through the left side. White then singled hard to center, Tatum rounded for third and slid, but the throw was wild from centerfielder Kim Rodriguez and Tatum was able to score for a 2-1 Auburn lead.

Loree retired the side in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the win for the Tigers.

Track & field picks up six event wins
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Auburn men’s and women’s track and field teams won six events, collected four new NCAA provisional qualifiers and had five performances that rank in the top 10 in school history Saturday at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup hosted by Penn State.

A pair of freshmen who excelled in the 200 meters highlighted Saturday’s competition for the Tigers, as Marcus Rowland and Nivea Smith won the men’s and women’s races, respectively.

Rowland, who won the 60-meter dash Friday, cruised to an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 21.10 seconds to win the 200 Saturday.

His time, which came in the first 200-meter race of his collegiate career, ranks third best in school indoor history, and only four runners nationally had a better time entering the weekend. Sophomore Michael DeHaven was third in 21.62 seconds.

Smith sped to a time of 23.73 seconds to win the women’s race and provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time this season. Her time ranks sixth in Auburn indoor history. Sophomore Cache Armbrister finished third in 24.07 seconds, freshman CeCe Williams was fourth in 24.14 and junior Shaquela Williams was sixth in 24.31.

Sophomore Joanna Atkins finished second in the women’s 400 meters, but her time of 54.03 seconds qualified her for the NCAA indoor meet. Having previously qualified in the 60 and 200 meters, she is the first woman this year to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in all three events.

Atkins also helped the women’s 4x400-meter relay team qualify for the NCAA Championships, as the Tigers finished second with a time of 3:37.39. Atkins teamed with CeCe Williams, Danielle Gilchrist and Armbrister to record the fifth-best time in school history, and their time was faster than any other school had recorded entering the weekend.

Sophomore Amber Riley won the women’s 3,000 meters with a time of 9:39.59 that ranks sixth-best in school history. Junior Sabrina Fischer was fourth in the 800 meters, but her time of 2:11.98 is ninth-best in Auburn indoor history. She also finished third in the mile (4:57.98).

Other individual winners for Auburn included junior Eric Werskey in the men’s shot put (17.89 meters, 58-8.5) and senior Raevan Harris in the women’s high jump (1.79 meters, 5-10.5). Freshman Monica Carney was fifth in the high jump (1.67 meters, 5-5.75).

The men’s 4x400-meter relay team was also a winner, as the team of freshman Neil Danville, DeHaven, Rowland and sophomore Bernard Spivey clocked a time of 3:13.24 seconds.

“I’m very pleased with our overall effort at this meet,” said head coach Ralph Spry. “We had several champions and provisional qualifiers, and took advantage of a good opportunity in a competitive meet. Hopefully this will help serve as a springboard into next week. We’re really looking forward to putting up even better marks next week in Arkansas at an even better facility and against even better competition.”

In the men’s mile, junior Jean-Pierre Weerts finished third (4:11.35) and junior Scott Novack took sixth (4:13.21). Sophomore Erica Akins was third in the women’s triple jump (11.80 meters, 38-8.75).

Other top-five finishers included Spivey in the men’s 400 meters (49.06), freshman Jeff Sanders in the men’s 3,000 meters (8:27.60) and freshman Ryan Fleck in the men’s high jump (2.09 meters, 6-10.25).

Auburn will return to action next weekend when the Tigers send athletes to compete at both the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Iowa State Classic.

Equestrian suffers first loss of season
The top-ranked Auburn equestrian team (4-1) was handed it first loss of the season Saturday as seventh-ranked South Carolina (4-4) defeated the Tigers, 10-8.

The Gamecocks defeated the Tigers, 5-4, in Hunt Seat and, 5-4, in Western.

“Most of the scores in this meet weren’t so high,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “They were going to be hard to overcome, and they should have been something we should have been able to do on our own horses.

“We had some (riders) just not have a good plan and try to do too much. We had some that just didn’t ride with enough focus; they just sort of let our own horses take them out. We helped just give them a win today and that is something we can‘t do.”

South Carolina won two events and tied another. The Gamecocks took MVP honors in three events making up for the loss to Auburn on Oct. 4.

South Carolina won Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences 3-2 behind MVP Megan Massaro, who defeated Jessica Braswell 92-80. Other Gamecock winners included Rachel Koggan over Grace Socha 90-85 and Nicole Bourgeois over Dottie Grubb 85-80.

Tiger winners included Elise Fraza over Eleanor Kunsman 82-72 and Anna Schierholz over Courtney Reese 91-87.

Auburn tied South Carolina in Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat 2-2. South Carolina’s Victoria Middleton won MVP honors defeating Ali Loprete 91-88. Other Gamecock winners include Megan Massaro over Rebecca Rifkin 83-79. Tiger winners included Jenny Reinhart over Sarah Stephens 84-79 and Katie Breedlove over Alex Haskell 74-71. Tying with a score of 86 were Auburn’s Chelsea Anheuser and South Carolina’s Carly Babcock. South Carolina won Western Horsemanship 3-1. Auburn’s Jessica Jones won MVP honors tying Hailey Thornton with a score of 74. Other Tiger winners include Sarah Whitaker over Amy Biffle 73.5-69. Gamecock winners included Emily Bookwalter over Kylie Miller 71-70, Katie Grossnickle over Shannon Hinton 68-67.5 and Maggie Fortune over Courtney Kobak 69.5-68.

Auburn won Western Reining 3-2. South Carolina’s Chloe Gray won MVP honors defeating Ashton Fairey 72-71.5. Other Gamecock winners include Hailey Thornton over Kelsey George 72-67. Tiger winners included Paige Monfore over Rebekah Roof 71-65, Lyndsey Jordan over Lydia Roof 71-63.5 and Kim Pope over Amy Biffle 64-0 (0 refers to a no score because of a penalty).

Auburn travels to Athens, Ga., to face conference rival Georgia Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.

Women’s tennis falls at Texas A&M Friday
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 25 Auburn women’s tennis team was handed a 5-2 loss to No. 27 Texas A&M on Friday night at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.

All-Americans Fani Chifchieva and Melissa Koning registered wins in singles action for the Tigers.

Auburn’s record falls to 1-3, while the Aggies improve to 3-1.

“Texas A&M played a great match and their energy made a big difference today,” head women’s tennis coach Tim Gray said. “We need to regroup and refocus for a very tough TCU team on Sunday.”

Auburn went into singles play facing a 1-0 deficit after losing the doubles point as all three of Auburn’s duos were defeated in tight matches. The Nos. 1 and 2 teams were pairs playing together for the first time in the spring season. Playing on court 1, Chifchieva and Alex Haney were suffered a 9-7 setback to Aggies Janelle Cuthbertson and Christi Liles. On court 2, Texas A&M’s duo of Stephanie Davidson and Morgan Frank notched an 8-5 decision over Koning and Dunja Djuranovic. In the No. 3 spot Auburn’s team of Whitney Chappell and Myrthe Molenveld lost to Sheri Olivier and Elze Potgieter, 8-6.

The only Tigers to win against Texas A&M in singles action were Chifchieva and Koning. Playing in the No. 3 spot, No. 41 Koning opened singles action for Auburn with a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Lauren Santacroce. Sixth-ranked Chifchieva topped Elzé Potgieter in three sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, in the No. 1 position.

Auburn will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face No. 21 TCU at noon today.