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AUBURN, Ala. – The UMass Lowell softball team (1-5) faced a pair of setbacks against nationally ranked opponents on the first day of the 2017 Tiger Invitational in Auburn.
 
The River Hawks first fell, 10-0, against No. 13 James Madison before dropping a 13-0 decision against No. 2 Auburn.
 
"Going into this, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy day," said Head Coach Danielle Henderson. "These are two Top 25 teams. We fought a little better against JMU than we did against Auburn. It was a great learning experience overall. I thought we battled at the plate. Hopefully, we won't have to pay for our mistakes as much as we had to today moving forward. We'll see if we take this and roll with it."
 
UMass Lowell was led by its rookies at the plate, as redshirt-freshman Casey Harding (Cheshire, Conn.), and freshmen Marianne Sparacia (Spring Hill, N.J.) and Courtney Cashman (Danvers, Mass) logged one hit apiece. Harding and Sparacia each added a walk, as well.
 
UMass Lowell and James Madison traded one hit apiece in the first inning of game one, with Cashman getting things started for the River Hawks on a shot up the middle. However, the Dukes broke the game open in the bottom of the second on a three-run home run by Odicci Alexander.
 
The River Hawks went three up and three down in the third before JMU extended its margin to 8-0 with the help of seven hits, including a long ball from Madyson Moran that scored three. The Dukes then made the score 10-0 in the home half of the fourth on Taylor Newton's liner that just snuck over the center field wall.
 
In the afternoon matchup, Auburn jumped out to a quick, 1-0 lead as the visiting team, thanks to a lead-off homer by Carlee Wallace. The Tigers added three more in the second when Casey McCrackin roped a ball to deep left that junior Samantha McQueen (Ewing, N.J.) was unable to corral before it bounced over the wall. The River Hawks made noise in their next trip to the dish with walks from Harding and McQueen, but both runners were left stranded.
 
The Tigers then rallied for six runs on five hits and four walks to pull away 10-0 in the third. Sparacia logged the River Hawks' first hit of the contest in the bottom of the inning, but she would be trapped in a double play on the next batter. Auburn was able to plate three more runs in the fourth, including a two-RBI single by Alyssa Rivera, en route to the 13-0 decision.
 
The River Hawks will return to action tomorrow with two more games at the Tiger Invite, taking on North Dakota at 1 p.m. and Yale at 8 p.m. ET.