Kate Malveaux (mal-VO) enters her third season as co-head coach of Auburn softball alongside her husband, Chris. The pair took over the helm of the program on June 5, 2024. Kate primarily works with Auburn’s catchers, defense and baserunners.

Across her 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.

After rebuilding the lineup 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.

Malveaux guided a young defense in 2026. True freshman Haven Roebuck turned in strong defensive numbers under Malveaux, finishing sixth in the SEC in total assists with 110. Roebuck averaged 2.0 assists per game, which ranked third in the league. She also earned the No. 6 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 with a behind-the-back assist against Florida A&M.

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 in 2025 were the program’s most since 2017.

Malveaux led the Tigers to a .966 fielding percentage in her first season on the Plains. Auburn finished fifth in the SEC and 27th nationally with 27 double plays turned in 2025. Malveaux helped guide Peralta to career-best defensive numbers as she concluded her Auburn career ranked sixth in assists (330) and ninth in double plays turned (34), while catcher Aubrie Lisenby finished second in program history with a .994 fielding percentage.

On the base paths, Auburn stole 50 bases in 2025 and ranked ninth in the SEC with an average of 1.00 stolen bases per game. A pair of Tigers ranked among the top 15 in the SEC in total steals. Icess Tresvik led the way with 16 stolen bases to rank 12th in the conference, while Abbey Smith followed closely behind with 14 to finish 15th. The duo also finished among the top five in Auburn history in career stolen bases.

Chris and Kate Malveaux came to Auburn after serving as assistant coaches at the University of Tennessee, where they helped the Lady Vols capture 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.

Kate Malveaux spent three seasons on staff at Tennessee after joining the program in June 2021. She served as a volunteer assistant during the 2022 and 2023 campaigns before being elevated to a full-time assistant coach ahead of the 2024 season. She primarily worked with the Lady Vols’ catchers and baserunners.

In her first full season as an assistant coach, Malveaux continued her work with baserunning and Tennessee’s catchers. Lady Vol catchers committed just two errors during the 2024 season and threw out five baserunners.

In her first season with Tennessee, Sophia Nugent earned All-SEC honors for her work behind the plate and at the plate. Nugent totaled 42 hits, including eight doubles and 11 home runs, while driving in 38 RBI. Starting 52 games, Nugent posted a .933 fielding percentage and threw out four baserunners.

For the third straight season, Tennessee finished in the top five in the SEC in stolen bases per game, averaging 0.96 per contest in 2024. The Lady Vols ranked fifth in the conference with 54 total stolen bases.

Over her two seasons as a volunteer assistant, the Lady Vols won 92 games and, in 2023, captured both the SEC regular-season and tournament championships — sweeping both titles in the same season for the first time in program history.

In 2023, 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. Primarily focused on Tennessee’s catchers, Malveaux helped Giulia Koutsoyanopulos transition from the outfield to behind the plate in 2023. Prior to arriving in Knoxville, Koutsoyanopulos had never played catcher but moved into the role and started 59 games for Tennessee.

Working with the baserunners, the Lady Vols stole at least 50 bases in each of Malveaux’s three seasons on staff. Since her arrival, Tennessee ranked among the top five in the SEC in stolen bases per game, finishing second in 2022 at 1.49, fourth in 2023 at 1.43 and fifth in 2024 at 0.96.

Malveaux — formerly Kate Singler — was a member of the Missouri softball staff during the 2020 and 2021 seasons as director of operations.

A standout softball player at Bradley University, Malveaux served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Braves in 2012. As a student-athlete, she earned Second Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and was a First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete selection. She also garnered First Team Capital One Academic All-District V recognition as a senior.

During both her junior and senior seasons, she led Bradley in RBI, becoming just the fifth player in program history to accomplish the feat in consecutive years.