AUBURN, AL— It was a tough day for the Winthrop softball team as it wrapped up the Tiger Invitational Sunday afternoon with a 10-4 loss to Mercer and a 15-4 loss in five innings to 17^th-ranked Auburn.

The Eagles finish the weekend 1-4 and are now 4-6 on the year while Mercer improves to 6-4 and the Tigers are undefeated at 12-0.

"We just made too many errors, had too many walks and hit batters," said Winthrop head coach Mark Cooke. "But we continued to battle and it was just one of those days. This weekend our pitching wasn't sharp but proud of the way the kids are playing hard every game and not giving up against very good competition."

In the two games on the day the Eagles totaled 18 walks, three wild pitches, an illegal pitch and three hit-by-pitches.

The Eagles started off strong against Mercer by posting two runs in the top of the first. Freshman Tara Loken led off with a double to left and then scored two batters later on a Maddie Antone double to left center. Zharne Glover, who reached on a walk, scored the second run as she scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Leah Young. Antone's hit extended her hitting streak to nine games, which ties her career-best.

However, the Eagles allowed five runs in the bottom of the first and four more in the bottom of the second. Three of the runs in the first came courtesy of two bases loaded walks and a passed ball. In the second inning the Bears got the leadoff batter after an error by Kim Ryder at second base which was followed by a hit-by-pitch to put runners at first and second.  Taylor Miller and Natalie Shiver then stole a base to move over to second and third. Three batters later Miller scored on an illegal pitch and then Rogers came through with an RBI single to third. The next two runs came on an error and wild pitch by Sara Allen, who entered the game in the middle of the first for starter Dallas King.

Of Mercer's 10 runs in the game, only one was earned while the Eagles pitching combined to allow six hits and have nine walks with a wild pitch, illegal pitch and a hit-by-pitch.

Winthrop had a chance in the second inning to get back into the game as Ryder reached on an error to lead off the inning and then tried to score from first on a Lindsay Davis double to left center, but was out at the plate. The third run of the day for Winthrop was an Antone home run as she led off the third inning with a solo shot, her third of the season. Allen recorded her eighth RBI of the season in the fifth inning with a two-out single. The Eagles left a total of eight on base in the game.

King took the loss and fell to 0-2 as she allowed six runs (one earned) on five hits with six walks and four strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Kirsten Stevens earned the win for Mercer as she allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and eight strikeouts to improve to 3-2.

Winthrop fell behind 12-0 to Auburn but were able to get to the starting pitcher in the bottom of the fourth as senior Kelsey Ritter and Young came through with the big hits. Glover led off the inning with a single followed by a single from Antone, which gave her a career-best 10-game hitting streak. That brought up Ritter, who drove in two runs with a double down the left field line followed by a double to right by Young that scored Ritter right after Auburn replaced Marcy Harper in the circle. Allen followed that with a single to the pitcher and Young came around the score on an error to make it 12-4.

Jade Rhodes provided the big hit in the top of the first for the Tigers with a three-run homer with two outs. Carlee Wallace led off the second inning with a solo home run and then Tiffany Howard reached on an error and then moved to second with one out on a passed ball. After a walk, the runners moved over a base on a wild pitch and then Allen walked Kasey Cooper to load the bases. Another walk drove in a run to make it 6-0. A few batters later Courtney Shea drove in two to make it 9-0 with a single through the right side. Auburn added three more runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

Winthrop will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Mt. Pleasant, SC for the Cougar Classic hosted by the College of Charleston. Winthrop will open up on Friday, Feb. 20 against Bowling Green at 5:30 p.m.