AUBURN, Ala. - Beth Golitko was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and Western Illinois scored the game's first run before falling to Auburn, 8-1, on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Fighting Leathernecks (1-7) plated the first run of the game when Kelsey Michelini drove in Golitko with a two-out RBI double to right field in the top of the first inning, but the Tigers (8-0) would rally with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead.

"We hit the ball well again today we just needed to string the hits together a little more," said head coach Holly Van Vlymen. "I thought Ashley Campbell pitched great in relief and Kelsey started the game off really well also."

Auburn scored after Lauren Guzman got on base with a one-out single and stole second one batter later. She would advance to third on a throwing error on the play and scored on an illegal pitch to tie the game at 1-1.

The Tigers would take the lead when Elizabeth Eisterhold hit a three-run homer to left field later in the inning to give Auburn a 4-1 advantage.

Western Illinois would get a runner on in the top of the second when Anna Copeland singled with two outs but Colleen Biebel struck out swinging to end the inning.

Auburn would score again when Morgan Estell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-1 before Kelsey Cartwright's sacrifice fly to center made it 6-1 after two innings of play.

Neither team would score again until the bottom of the sixth inning although the Leathernecks did have runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings.

The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Guzman and Kelley Smiley.

Western Illinois would threaten to score in the top of the seventh after Erin Schlotfeldt doubled up the middle but Lauren Schmalz was able to get the last two outs of the inning for the win.

Michelini (0-4) took the loss, allowing six runs on four hits in 1.1 innings while issuing three walks. Campbell pitched 4.2 innings in relief and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with a walk and one strikeout.

Golitko led the Leathernecks at the plate with a 3-for-3 effort and scored Western's lone run. Her performance gave her six hits through the first three games of the weekend.

"I've been approaching the plate with a lot more confidence this weekend," said Golitko. "My mindset has just been to relax and see the ball better to get better at bats."

Anna Copeland was also solid at the dish as she finished 2-for-3. Michelini was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Schlotfeldt was 1-for-1 as a pinch hitter.

Schmalz (4-0) picked up the win for Auburn after allowing just one run on seven hits in 7.0 innings of work. She recorded 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk.

The Tigers finished with eight hits to Western's seven and did not committ an error in the field while the Leathernecks had one. Six different Tigers finished the game with at least one hit.

Western Illinois will wrap up its time at the Tiger Invitational when it takes on Campbell at 11:30 tomorrow (Feb. 20).