AUBURN, Ala. - Day Two of the Tiger Invitational ended in a split for Western Illinois (6-2). The Leathernecks fell 6-0 to Auburn before rebounding and defeating Winthrop 9-1 on Sat. (Feb. 15).

"It's always tough when you sit all day and wait for a night game," said head coach Holly Van Vlymen. "It's hard to to keep the energy all day. But they came back in the second game and really responded."

GAME ONE: WESTERN ILLINOIS 0, AUBURN 6

Kacyee Hart got the nod against Auburn to start day two of the Tiger Invitational. The sophomore went 4.1 innings, giving up only a pair of hits.

"I think Kacyee did a good job pitching," Van Vlymen said. "Hailey did a great job coming on in relief, I just think we had one too many walks and they got hits in timely fashion. They really took advantage of our errors and that really hurt us. We needed a hit and we needed to make adjustments a little bit sooner. But their pitcher did a great job."

Western Illinois had a chance to grab an early lead in the second inning, but stranded runners at second and third. After not allowing a baserunner through the first three innings, Auburn put the first three runners on in the fourth but Hart limited the damage, forcing a pair of sacrifice hits and a ground out.

The Leathernecks put the leadoff runner on in the sixth, but were unable to cut into the lead. A pair of errors though in the bottom half of the inning allowed the Tigers to plate three more runs, ending in a 6-0 defeat.

GAME TWO: WESTERN ILLINOIS 9, WINTHROP 1

Sammy Marshall led the game off with a single and came around to score when Lia Romeo drove in the first run of a career day for Romeo. Western tacked on another in the first, giving Western a 2-0 lead. 

Romeo would again send Marshall home in the second, increasing the deficit to 3-0.

Winthrop cut into the lead after Zharne Glover doubled and came around to score. The Eagles were denied another run thanks to Briana Williams threw out an Eagle at home for the final out of the third.

Romeo would strike again in the fourth, when Teagan Walsh reached on a one-out single, leading to a Lia Romeo two-run home run, giving Western a 5-1 lead. It was Romeo's first home run of the season. Following a Megg Kelly double, Taylor Messer picked up her second career RBI, extending the lead to 7-1.

"It was big for Lia," Van Vlymen added. "It's big for all the girls though. We're not always going to rely on the same girl time and time again. Somebody is always going to step up."

Kayla Kirpatrick went into cruise control retiring the final nine batters, leading to her second win of the year. Kirkpatrick struck out three Eagles in six innings of work.

After a scoreless fifth, Western ended the game via the run rule in the sixth when Briana Williams drove in Bria Jones.

 "It was a total team effort," Van Vlymen said. "We took advantage of their miscues and the defense was great. Kayla and Taylor worked really well together and she finished the game on a strong note. Winthrop beat us twice last year and I know the girls really wanted to beat them this year."

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