Chris Malveaux (mal-VO) enters his third season as co-head coach of Auburn softball alongside his wife, Kate. The pair took over the helm of the program on June 5, 2024. Chris primarily oversees Auburn’s offense.
Across his first two seasons on the Plains, Auburn has earned more than 60 victories, including 10 over top-25 opponents, while producing three NFCA All-Region honorees, two All-SEC selections, a finalist for NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, five CSC Academic All-District honorees and one NCAA postseason appearance.
Over the first two seasons of the Malveaux era, Auburn has finished in the program’s top 10 single-season offensive categories more than 20 times.
After rebuilding the offense following the graduation of eight starters, Malveaux’s second season at the helm saw Auburn finish with 27 victories, including upset wins over No. 13 Clemson, No. 18 Oregon and No. 4 Florida during the regular season. The Tigers recorded the No. 6 strength of schedule in 2026 with 33 contests against top-50 RPI opponents. Auburn posted nine wins against that slate.
The Tigers showed incredible fight during the 2026 SEC Tournament in Lexington to close the season. Despite entering as the No. 14 seed, Auburn upset Missouri and Texas A&M to advance to the quarterfinals. It marked Auburn’s first SEC Tournament quarterfinal appearance since 2023 and the program’s first back-to-back wins at the tournament since 2019. Auburn set seven individual or team records during its SEC Tournament run.
Transfer Alyssa Hastings turned in one of the team’s most consistent performances at the plate en route to All-SEC honors. Hastings led the Tigers with a .369 batting average, 55 hits and 12 doubles and was the only Auburn player to bat above .300 in SEC play, finishing with a .307 average. Her season was highlighted by tying Auburn’s single-game SEC record with seven RBI against Ole Miss on April 26.
Auburn’s offense continued to trend upward under Malveaux’s tutelage with more than 70 individual career highs established during the 2026 season. Auburn concluded the year with 68 home runs, marking the first time the Tigers recorded back-to-back seasons with 65-plus home runs since 2022 and 2023.
The Tigers opened the 2025 season and the Malveaux era with a 20-1 start, their best since 2022. During that stretch, Auburn posted a 6-0 record at the elite Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational, becoming the first team to do so since Florida State in 2019. Auburn finished the season with a 35-24 record, which included winning three of its final four SEC series. The Tigers earned their first series win at Kentucky since 2016 while also upsetting No. 18 Georgia and No. 13 South Carolina in series victories.
With its appearance at the 2025 Tallahassee Regional, Auburn extended its streak of consecutive NCAA postseason appearances to 11. The Tigers handed No. 5 Florida State an 8-3 loss on Sunday to force the “if necessary” contest but finished one win shy of advancing to Super Regionals in the first year of the Malveaux era.
Playing the fifth-toughest schedule in the country, Auburn earned 18 victories against top-50 RPI opponents.
The 2025 season was highlighted by a breakout offensive campaign from freshman AnnaLea Adams. Adams became the first Auburn freshman to earn All-SEC First Team honors. The first baseman/designated player was also a top-25 finalist for NFCA National Freshman of the Year. She joined Nelia Peralta and SJ Geurin as Auburn representatives on the 2025 NFCA All-Gulf Region Team. Auburn’s three selections were the program’s most since 2017.
Offensively, Auburn improved in nearly every statistical category during the first year of the Malveaux era, including a 60-point jump in slugging percentage. Auburn hit 68 home runs in 2025, the program’s highest total since 2022 and tied for the fifth most in a single season in school history. Five different Tigers hit at least 10 home runs in 2025, the most in a season since 2015. Eight Auburn players either matched or surpassed their career highs for home runs during Malveaux’s first season. After scoring 10 or more runs in only two games in 2024, Auburn reached double digits nine times in year one of the Malveaux era.
The 2025 campaign was also highlighted by the emergence of Adams. Bursting onto the scene, Adams finished in the top five in six Auburn freshman offensive categories. She ranked 15th in the SEC in batting average and became just the fourth freshman in program history to slug 10 or more home runs in a season. She capped her freshman campaign with D1 Softball Second Team Freshman All-America honors.
Peralta thrived in her final season on the Plains under Malveaux’s tutelage, setting career highs in batting average, runs scored and hits in a season. She also hit double-digit home runs for the first time since her freshman season in 2021. Peralta became just the sixth Tiger in program history to record 190-plus hits, 120-plus runs scored and 120-plus RBI in an Auburn uniform. She concluded her career ranked in the top 10 in eight Auburn career categories, including walks, triples, RBI, runs scored and on-base percentage.
On May 5, 2025, Malveaux was named to the U.S. Women’s National Team Coaching Pool for the 2025-28 quad. As part of the pool, he assists with WNT camps and international events.
Chris and Kate Malveaux came to Auburn after serving as assistant coaches at the University of Tennessee, where they helped guide the Lady Vols to back-to-back Southeastern Conference regular-season titles in 2023 and 2024, as well as a Women’s College World Series appearance in 2023.
Additionally, the pair helped Tennessee compile 136 wins over three seasons, tied for the 10th most nationally and second most among SEC programs during that span. In 2024, Tennessee captured the SEC regular-season title, posted a 44-12 overall record and advanced to an NCAA Super Regional.
Recognized as one of the top offensive minds in collegiate softball, Chris Malveaux guided six Lady Vols to All-SEC accolades in 2024, including a third consecutive All-SEC First Team selection for McKenna Gibson. He also helped All-American KiKi Milloy rewrite Tennessee’s record book as the program’s career leader in home runs, runs scored and total bases. Three of Tennessee’s top five single-season home run totals came under Malveaux’s direction.
Returning one of the SEC’s most powerful lineups, Tennessee led the conference and ranked sixth nationally with an average of 1.50 home runs per game in 2024 and finished the season with 84 total home runs, the third most in a single season in program history.
Returning for a fifth year, KiKi Milloy earned D1 Softball Second Team All-America honors. Tennessee’s all-time leader in home runs (69), runs scored (266) and total bases (534), Milloy started 53 games in her final season with the Lady Vols. A fixture at the top of the lineup, she led Tennessee with a .347 batting average and 64 runs scored.
Milloy tied for the team lead in hits (59) and home runs (13) while pacing the squad with 12 doubles and two triples. She also stole 24 bases, finishing her career with 142 — the second most in Tennessee softball history.
The Lady Vols’ offense was potent in 2023, averaging 6.87 runs per game to rank first in the SEC and third nationally. Tennessee scored 419 runs during the season, marking the program’s first 400-run campaign since 2016. The Lady Vols scored 10 or more runs 16 times in 2023 and plated at least five runs in 40 games.
Senior KiKi Milloy set a single-season school record with 25 home runs, a mark that also led the nation. Sophomore McKenna Gibson enjoyed a breakout campaign, setting career highs in batting average (.362), OPS (1.232), runs (36), hits (59), doubles (11), home runs (15), RBI (60), slugging percentage (.718), walks (39) and on-base percentage (.514). She recorded multiple RBI in 14 games and ended the season on a 23-game reached-base streak.
Under Malveaux’s leadership, Milloy earned NFCA First Team All-America honors while Gibson collected second-team recognition.
In its first year under his guidance, Tennessee boasted the SEC’s third-best scoring offense with 140 runs in conference games. The Lady Vols also ranked second in the league in doubles (39), slugging percentage (.540), on-base percentage (.398) and stolen bases (22) in SEC play while finishing third in home runs (38).
The 2023 Tennessee team captured both the SEC regular-season and tournament championships, sweeping both titles in the same season for the first time in program history. Tennessee secured its first 50-win season and reached the national semifinals at the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2013. The trip to the WCWS was the program’s first since 2015 and eighth overall.
Tennessee posted remarkable home run numbers in its first season with Malveaux on staff, totaling 91 long balls for the second-highest single-season mark in program history. The Lady Vols averaged 1.54 home runs per game, ranking third in the SEC and 12th nationally.
In its preseason list of the top 10 assistant coaching hires during the 2021 offseason, Extra Inning Softball tabbed Malveaux’s addition as the No. 1 assistant coach hire in the country.
A native of Houston, Texas, Malveaux spent the 2019-21 seasons at Missouri, serving one year as an assistant coach and two as associate head coach. During his three seasons in Columbia, Missouri’s offense improved each year, hitting .284 in 2019, .290 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season and .320 in 2021.
The Tigers’ .320 batting average ranked second in the SEC in 2021. Missouri also finished the season with 91 home runs, 382 runs scored and 184 extra-base hits.
In 2019, Missouri’s Brooke Wilmes earned All-SEC First Team and NFCA Second Team All-Southeast Region honors in her first season under Malveaux. Freshman Jazmyn Rollin was also a Top 25 finalist for the NFCA/Schutt Sports Freshman of the Year award that season.
Prior to joining Missouri, Malveaux served as video coordinator at Kansas in 2018 and as associate head coach at Louisiana from 2016-17. It marked his second stint with the Ragin’ Cajuns after serving as an assistant coach from 2009-11.
The 2010 Louisiana staff was selected as the NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year after compiling a 45-18 record, advancing to an NCAA Super Regional and earning a No. 16 national ranking. Across his five combined seasons at Louisiana, Malveaux was part of five Sun Belt Conference championships, five NCAA Regional appearances and two NCAA Super Regional berths.
A 2001 graduate of Texas A&M University, Malveaux served as an assistant coach at Bradley University from 2012-15 and was the head coach at McNeese State University from 2005-08 after previously serving as an assistant coach from 2002-04.
| QUICK FACTS | |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Houston, Texas |
| College | Texas A&M (2001) |
| Family |
wife, Kate
|
| HEAD COACHING RECORD | |
|---|---|
| Head Coaching Career | 6 seasons |
| Career Record | 170-185 |
| Record at Auburn | 62-52 |
| NCAA Regionals | 2 |
| YEAR-BY-YEAR RESULTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| YEAR | SCHOOL | RECORD |
| 2005 | McNeese | 34-35 |
| 2006 | McNeese | 21-30 |
| 2007 | McNeese | 30-32 |
| 2008 | McNeese | 23-36 |
| 2025 | Auburn | 35-24 |
| 2026 | Auburn | 27-28 |
| Coaching History | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025- | Auburn - Co-Head Coach | 62-52 |
| 2022-2024 | Tennessee - Assistant Coach | |
| 2020-2021 | Missouri - Associate Head Coach | |
| 2019 | Missouri - Assistant Coach | |
| 2018 | Kansas - Video Coordinator | |
| 2016-2017 | Louisiana - Associate Head Coach | |
| 2012-2015 | Bradley - Assistant Coach | |
| 2009-2011 | Louisiana - Assistant Coach | |
| 2005-2008 | McNeese State - Head Coach | 108-133 |
| 2002-2004 | McNeese State - Assistant Coach | |