Florida State likely faces familiar teams in NCAA softball tournament Tallahassee Regional

The NCAA Softball Tournament will be underway this weekend.

In the Tallahassee Regional, Florida State softball will meet some familiar faces the Seminoles have encountered in the postseason.

FSU softball is the 15th seed in the tournament and will face Chattanooga on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Auburn and Central Florida are also in the regional and teams will open the tournament against each other at 2 p.m.

If the Seminoles are victorious against the Mocs, they face the winner of the UCF-Auburn game. But if the Mocs pull off an upset, the Seminoles will fall into the elimination bracket and have to win to remain in the tournament.

Here are some things to know about each team.

Notes on FSU-Chattanooga NCAA softball tournament regional game

This will be the 10th meeting between FSU and Chattanooga. The last time the two teams faced off was in 2012 when FSU defeated the Mocs 1-0. Chattanooga has lost all nine games against the Seminoles.

Chattanooga will make its 16th appearance in the softball tournament, two of the last years. After reaching 42 wins, the Mocs claimed its 16th Southern Conference title after defeating North Carolina-Greensboro the championship game.

"They are scrappy," head coach Lonni Alameda said. "When you come into a double-elimination tournament and you have to do anything it takes to win, I think the scrappiness is big for them. They got a good little pitcher that gets after a good curveball, got some table setters, and some swing size. I think they are going to come up here with nothing to lose. They are going to have a lot of fun and they are a good ball club."

UCF meets Auburn for NCAA softball tournament Tallahassee Regional for second time

It’ll be almost one year to this day since UCF stepped onto JoAnne Graf Field and fell to FSU in last year’s regional. The Knights will return to Tallahassee for the second straight year in hopes of a different result.

But first, UCF must take care of business against the Auburn Tigers while the Seminoles focus on the Mocs.

“We’re not satisfied with what we’ve done yet this season, and we have a lot more goals in front of us that we want to accomplish,” UCF’s infielder Shannon Doherty said in UCF’s press release. “Being able to get the opportunity to go out there and reach those goals and continue this season and continue with this group is a blessing.”

UCF enters this postseason with a 30-23 record and a 12-15 record in the Big 12. It will be the first time since 2021 that the Golden Knights have faced the Tigers in the JoAnne Graf field. UCF beat Auburn 5-4 during that time.

"No matter who you face in the postseason, they are going to be a talented team," Auburn's head coach, Mickey Dean said in Auburn's press release. "We've got to show up and play clean softball. We've been there before. We know what to expect as far as the stadium and the crowd noise."

Auburn enters the postseason with a 27-23 record and one of 10 SEC teams in the tournament. The last time FSU played Auburn in its regional was in 2018. The Seminoles beat the Tigers 2-1.

What's next for FSU softball in NCAA Softball Tournament

Thursday: FSU vs. Chattanooga

Where/When: JoAnne Graf Field / 4:30 p.m.

TV: ACC Network

Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU softball NCAA tournament matchups: Chattanooga, UCF, Auburn