AUBURN, Ala. – For the second consecutive season, Auburn softball’s (32-22) road to Oklahoma City begins in Tallahassee as the Tigers are set to face South Florida (43-14-1) Friday in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional at JoAnne Graf Field.
“Every game is going to be a battle,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “South Florida won a lot of games this year. They are led by their pitching staff. They are always athletic and play hard. We need to make sure we’re locked in and that we stay aggressive and keep bringing the fight right at them.”
First pitch is set for 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU. Mark Neely and Carol Bruggeman will be in the booth for every game of the Tallahassee Regional. Every game will be available on the ESPN app while additional linear coverage for the remaining scheduled will be announced throughout the weekend.
Brit Bowen will have radio coverage live from Tallahassee on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Sports Network.
There's nothing like MAY-hem! 😏
— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) May 13, 2025
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The winner of Friday’s contest advances to face either (5) Florida State (46-9) or Robert Morris (30-16) on Saturday. Florida State and Robert Morris will face off on the ACC Network approximately 35 minutes following Friday’s opener.
“Robert Morris got hot towards the last half of their season,” Malveaux added. “They are coming off a championship. They are going to be sky high and ready to go. Florida State is going to be very tough to face inside its home stadium. They are experienced. They have a great pitching staff. They can score at any given time in so many different ways. If you’re a softball fan, it’ll be a fun environment to be in to watch some great softball.”
Saturday’s schedule will feature a pair of elimination games and one winner’s bracket contest that will send one team directly into Sunday’s championship game.
2025 Tallahassee Regional Schedule
(All times Central)
Friday May 16
Game 1: USF vs Auburn at 11:00 a.m.
Game 2: Robert Morris vs FSU at 1:30 p.m. OR 35 minutes following Game 1.
Saturday May 17
Game 3: 12:00 p.m. (Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2)
Game 4: 2:30 p.m. (Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2)
Game 5: 5:00 p.m. (Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3)
Sunday May 18
Game 6: 11:00 a.m. (Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5)
Game 7: 1:30 p.m. (Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 if necessary)
South Florida, Robert Morris and Florida State won either a regular season or conference tournament championship this season. Florida State was the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champion while South Florida and Robert Morris won the America Athletic Conference and Horizon League tournament championships, respectively.
Auburn is making its 20th overall and 11th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and holds a 25-30 overall record in regional action. The Tigers are making their second consecutive and fifth overall appearance at the Tallahassee Regional. Four of Auburn’s last seven regional appearances have been in Tallahassee.
Two of Auburn’s three potential opponents would be first-time meetings in postseason action in both Robert Morris and South Florida. Auburn has never beat Florida State in a head-to-head meeting during an NCAA Regional. The Seminoles have won all five previous meetings.
Auburn is looking to advance to the program’s fourth NCAA Super Regional and its first since 2017.
The Tigers enter the weekend with wins in five of their last seven games. At the SEC Tournament in Athens, Georgia, the Tigers dropped a one-run game to in-state rival Alabama.
Nelia Peralta has had the hottest bat in the lineup over Auburn’s last six games. She’s gone 10-for-17 at the plate for a .588 average. She’s knocked three extra-base hits for a .882 slugging clip. She’s scored eight runs and drove in four RBI during that stretch.
Four of Auburn’s last five victories have been shutout wins as the team has posted a 1.44 ERA across those five victories. Even more impressive, three of the four shutouts have also been one-hit efforts by the duo of SJ Geurin and Haley Rainey.
Geurin became the 12th Tiger in program history to record 20 wins in a season after her complete-game effort in the opening contest versus NC State. She is now fourth in the SEC and 25th in the country in total wins. She’s been directly involved in 24 of Auburn’s 32 victories by recording the win or the save. She leads Auburn with a 2.79 ERA and 91 strikeouts.
A First Team All-SEC performer, AnnaLea Adams continues to shine in her freshman campaign. She enters the weekend with a .408 average, which ranks 10th in the SEC and leads all SEC true freshmen.
She holds the second highest batting average and third highest slugging percentage (.696) ever recorded by an Auburn freshman. Despite not playing in nine of Auburn’s 51 games, the freshman still ranks in the top five on the team in hits (51), RBI (36), doubles (9), home runs (9) and total bases (87).
Icess Tresvik leads the Tiger sluggers with 11 home runs. At the SEC Tournament, Peralta joined her in the double-digit home run category with 10. It marks the first time that the duo has hit 10 or more home runs in a season since their 2021 freshman seasons.
The Tigers have seen dramatic improvements in the Malveaux era, surpassing their 2024 hits total, runs scored total, extra-base hits total and wins total ahead of regionals. The team has also improved its slugging percentage by 49 points from a season ago.
Auburn’s 60 home runs this season are currently the eighth most hit in a single season and the most slugged by the Tigers since 2023 (64). Auburn has scored 10 or more runs eight times this season after doing so only twice in 2024. Auburn is 8-0 when scoring 10 or more runs and 21-1 this season when scoring at least six run
The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will advance to face the winner of the Lubbock Regional in the Super Regional round. The Lubbock Regional features (12) Texas Tech, Brown, Washington and Mississippi State.