Newcomer Spotlight: Melania Luostari

AUBURN, Ala. - As the Malveaux era enters its second season on the Plains, a bevy of newcomers will wear the Orange and Blue at Jane B. Moore Field for the first time. Throughout the fall, we’ll introduce the 13 fresh faces joining the program.

An utility athlete from Maple, Wisconsin, Melania Luostari comes to the Plains after a decorated high school career at Superior. Loustari won multiple accolades, including First Team All-State honors and is looking to bring her toughness and versatility to the roster.

Q: How old were you when you started to play softball?

Luostari: Since I could start walking. Three or four with a little wiffle bat and wiffle ball. I actually have a picture of my day soft tossing to me, and I’m still in a diaper. I’m trying to hit the ball.

Q: Who has influenced your softball career the most?

Luostari: My dad. He played baseball, and he was really good. He ended up going to college, but he got hit in the head with a baseball. He couldn't play anymore, which really sucks, but he always wanted to live out the rest of his career through me.

Q: What athlete did you admired as a young softball athlete?

Luostari: My sister. She played in high school, but she ended up not going to college for softball. She really loved it, and she helped me out a lot with practices when I was younger. She was somebody I looked up to. She’s super strong, independent, and she ended up doing what she wanted to do. That takes a lot of bravery.” 

True freshman Melania Luostari bringing a taste of Wisconsin to Jane B. Moore Field 💪

Find out more about her sock superstition 🧦

More on Melania ⤵️
🔗: https://t.co/nX4hqFToUH#WarEagle | @MelaniaLuostar2 pic.twitter.com/qKR8jlOtKD

— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) October 23, 2025

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self? 

Luostari: Coach Kate told me this a couple of days ago. She said find the small wins out of every day. I think that’s important because I’m super hard on myself. I’m definitely a perfectionist. I get too caught up in doing everything super perfect. It would be nice to think what did I get better at today? One small little thing.

Q: Why Auburn? 

Luostari: It feels like a home away from home. That’s what told everybody who’s asked me. It genuinely is a family here. The Auburn community is something I’ve never seen before even from colleges back home. It’s such a different vibe here. Everybody is all about Auburn, and I really like that.

Q: How have your teammates and the Auburn Family helped you adjust during your first semester? 

Luostari: All of the resources. They told us all, right away, all the resources that you’re going to have and who you can reach out to help with this and that. Even to go to my academic advising meeting. I call Mariah (Duncan) up and ask ‘hey, where’s this?’ Even if she doesn’t know, she’s still going to look it up. I think that’s been really helpful for me. It’s confusing getting on a new campus, and this campus is really big. It’s hard to find everything. Finding all the buildings and those resources are super helpful.  

Q: What's your major and your plans following you palying career?

Luostari: I'm majoirng in biomedical sciences with a pre-pharmacy track. I want to enroll in the Harrison College of Pharmacy. Fif that doesn’t end up working out or it’s not something I want to do later on, I’ll end up figuring something out. I always manage to figure everything out.

Q: What is one word to describe yourself on the field and one word to describe yourself off the field? 

Luostari: On the field, I would say intense. A lot of people are like ‘smile, smile,’ but I’m just so focused on the game. I’m focused on doing my best and focused on the performance. I’m very intense. I joke around, but I’m there to win. Off the field, I’m kind of neutral. I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t want to say nonchalant because that’s really corny. I’m doing my thing I guess.  

Q: How is Alabama different from Wisconsin? 

Luostari: There’s a lot. There’s been a lot of sayings that I’ve said to teammates, and they’re like 'what are you even saying?' or 'what even is that what are you talking about?' The way I pronounce things, they always can tell I'm from up north. I’ve heard a lot of sayings that I’ve never heard before. Destiny (Rodriguez) asked 'are you guys going to get down? ’ referencing getting out of the car. I was like ‘get out of the car? is that what you’re trying to say?’ I have never heard that before. My roommates, Ella (Harrison), lives up north, too, in New York. That’s been a culture shock. The way people dress is a little different, too. It’s hot down here, and it’s really cold up north. Also, all the animals. There’s a lot of smaller lizards and animals here. We have bigger animals up north like bobcats, lynx and black bears.”  

Q: What's been the highlights of your softball career so far? 

Luostari: I’m sure everybody says getting recruited. That was crazy. The whole recruiting process was crazy. The biggest moment for me, what started all of this college craze, is when I went to state championships. I went to a small high school in my hometown of Maple, Wisconsin. Tge high school was called Northwestern. I ended up transferring to a bigger school in Superior, Wisconsin. We ended up going to state my freshman and sophomore seasons. I played third base. Going to the state tournament, that feeling was so crazy. That was probably the highlight of my softball career. That’s something I’ll never forget. The feeling I felt, I’ll never forget it. That also started my recruitment for the Beverly Bandits club team. Yhey got me introduced and in front of all these coaches. Now, I’m here.  

Q: What's your jersey numner? Does it have any special meaning to you? 

Luostari: My jersey number is three. It’s been a family number. It’s usually always taken ,so I’ve always had to pick 33. I'm going back to three, my original number. I’m happy about that.

Q: What's your favorite pre-game hype song? 

Luostari: Any sort of rap would be my hype song. I don’t really have a specific one.

Q: Do you have any pre-game superstitions or rrituals?

Luostari: The only thing that I really have ever done is put the left foot sock on the left foot and the right foot sock on the right foot. When I would be traveling, I would lose a sock or I’d have two rights. I’d be like, 'today’s going to be a bad day, I don’t have the right sock on the right foot. I don’t know where my left sock is.’ That’s basically my only superstition.

Q: What's your favorite postgame meal? 

Luostari: Some sort of chicken bowl with rice, cilantro, corn and chicken.

Q: What was your dream job growing up? 

Luostari: Before I decided I wanted to go into pharmacy, I wanted to be a surgeon. It’s a lot of work, so I decided to do something kind of similar. Still learning the same things, but it’s not as intense.

Q: What is your main goal heading into the season?

Luostari: I just want to play well. My main goal is working hard, getting all the basics down, doing everything right and seeing how I perform in games. Showing that my hard work is paying off. I just want to hit the ball and hit a couple of home runs. I want to see the eagle go off for a home run and then run around the bases.