Auburn softball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time in program history. The Tigers were selected as the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional on Sunday.
No. 10 overall seed Florida State (39-10-1) is the host of the Regional and joining them is No. 2 seed Auburn (27-22), No. 3 seed UCF (39-17-1) and No. 4 seed Kennesaw State (26-25).
Auburn will face UCF Friday at 1 p.m. CST with the game airing on ESPN2.
"It really speaks to our schedule and the strength of the SEC that we're a number two seed,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “It's going to be a tough regional. UCF is a tough team. I've played them in the past. They are well coached, and they have some great players. Florida State, Kennesaw State – we've split with both of them this year. We're excited to be going and are looking forward to getting started."
The Seminoles earned the 10th overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play Kennesaw State Friday at 3:30 p.m. CST.
This season, Auburn has already faced Kennesaw State and Florida State as the Tigers hosted both schools for a nonconference tournament in March. The Tigers played both teams twice and split the series with each of them.
The 2021 NCAA Tournament will be the third time the Tigers have played in Tallahassee for a Regional with previous appearances in 2002 and 2018. In Dean’s first year as head coach in 2018, the Tigers defeated Kennesaw State 5-2 in the Regional opener.
After winning the opener in 2018, Auburn fell to Florida State 2-1 in eight innings before Jacksonville State eliminated Auburn 3-2. The Seminoles won their regional in 2018 and went on to win the 2018 Women’s College World Series.
The Tigers are 11-18-1 overall against Florida State and are 4-9 against them in Tallahassee. Auburn is 5-2 all-time against Kennesaw State, while the Tigers will be facing UCF for the first time since 2016. Auburn is 2-0 against UCF.
The winner of the Regional will go on to face the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional. No. 7 overall seed LSU is the host of the Baton Rouge Regional, which features McNeese State, George Washington and Louisiana Lafayette.
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Jake Weese, senior in journalism with a minor in history, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
