Alabama softball tops Auburn in SEC Tournament Iron Bowl

Alabama Softball Player Lauren Johnson (88) sliding into home against Auburn in the SEC Tournment at Jack Turner Softball Stadium in Athens, GA on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 (Courtesy Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics).

ATHENS, Ga. – Alabama softball defeated in-state rival Auburn, 3-2, in Tuesday’s opening round of the SEC Softball Tournament at Jack Turner Stadium in Athens, Ga.

With the win, Alabama (37-20) advances to play No. 7 seed South Carolina on Wednesday, May 7. The game will be 35 minutes after the Florida vs. Ole Miss game, which is set for a 4 p.m. CT start.

Alabama trailed Auburn (32-22) after a first inning solo home run from Nelia Peralta before Salen Hawkins tied the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the second and the Crimson Tide took the lead the following inning on an RBI triple from Kali Heivilin and a sac fly RBI from Hawkins.

With two in scoring position and one out in the top of the sixth, a sac fly RBI from Icess Tresvik drew the Tigers within one, but the safe call at third on the trailing runner advancing on the play was challenged and overturned to an out, ending the half-inning with Alabama leading 3-2. The Tide couldn’t add to its lead in the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh with two outs, but Jocelyn Briski (16-11) shut the door with her eighth strikeout of the game to end it.

From Alabama Softball Head Coach Patrick Murphy

“You can see why [Auburn pitcher SJ Geurin] won 20 games in the regular season. She’s like the prototypical ‘crafty lefty’ type of pitcher. We hit the backside of the ball a few times and had some really good at-bats. I was worried we’d start rolling over it and pulling the ball because that’s exactly what she wanted us to do, but we stayed behind the ball, found some gaps and [Jocelyn] Briski and the defense did the rest.”

From Auburn Softball Co-Head Coach Chris Malveaux

“I felt like we were ready for this game. We came out with a lot of energy. (Jocelyn) Briski is a tough pitcher to hit. She has a lot of options. We put ourselves in a position to barrel up some balls. Alabama just made some great plays. SJ (Geurin) was throwing well, but they made some things happen at the plate. I liked the way we competed. It’s tough in postseason because you can always look back at one or two plays. The little things make the biggest difference in the postseason. This was really good tune-up for us to get us thinking about the right things moving forward next week.”

Highlights

• The win was Alabama’s 47th all-time in SEC Tournament play, tying LSU for the most SEC Tournament wins
• The Tide is now 7-3 all-time vs. Auburn at the SEC Tournament
• The win was Jocelyn Briski’s fifth complete-game victory of the season, three of which have come vs. SEC opponents
• Briski’s eight strikeouts tie her previous career best, set on opening day vs. Washington (Feb. 7)
• Audrey Vandagriff and Abby Duchscherer each had two hits, their 20th and 11th multi-hit games of the season, respectively
• Salen Hawkins drove in two of the team’s three runs, her third multi-RBI game of the year
• Kali Heivilin extended her reached-base streak to 16 games, two shy from her personal best she set earlier this season
• The Tigers jumped out to an early as Nelia Peralta lined a solo home run to right field in the opening frame. It was her 10^th home run of the season, marking the first time since her 2022 freshman season that she has slugged double-digit home runs.
• Peralta closed the game 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Aubrie Lisenby also turned in a multi-hit performance for the Tigers with a 2-for-2 effort.
• Tresvik littered the highlight reel throughout the game with multiple hit-robbing grabs in right field.

Scoring Summary

• T1 | Nelia Peralta hit a solo home run to right (0-1, 1 Out)
• B2 | Salen Hawkins one-hopped the wall for an RBI double (1-1, 0 Out)
• B3 | Kali Heivilin legged out an RBI triple (2-1, 0 Out)
• B3 | Heivilin tagged up and scored on a Hawkins sac fly (3-1, 1 Out)
• T6 | Peralta scored on a sac fly RBI (3-2, 1 Out)

Up Next:

• Wednesday: No. 10 Alabama vs. No. 7 South Carolina – 35 minutes after No. 6 Florida vs. No. 11 Ole Miss (5 p.m. first pitch) – SEC Network2025 SEC Tournament (Athens, Ga.)
• Auburn will wait to hear its named called during Sunday’s NCAA Softball Division I Selection Show. The show airs on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. CT.

(Courtesy: The University of Alabama and Auburn Athletics_