The Auburn softball team will open the NCAA Atlanta Regional today with a nationally televised game against the Oregon Ducks at Mewborn Field on the campus of Georgia Tech University.

First pitch between the Tigers and Ducks is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The game will be carried live by ESPN2 (Channel 32 in Lee County) and online at ESPN3.com. Every game in the Atlanta Regional will be carried live by the ESPN family of networks.

“We are looking forward to getting to Atlanta,” Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. “This is an extremely competitive regional with Georgia Tech, Oregon and Jacksonville State. Georgia Tech won the ACC title. Oregon beat No. 1 Washington and No. 9 Arizona State in conference play, so they are certainly a very talented team. We’ve seen Jacksonville State a lot and they always play us very hard. So we know what’s in front of us.”

Auburn (30-24, 10-17 SEC) enters the Atlanta Regional having won seven of its last 10 games. The Tigers will face Oregon for the first time since 1999. The Ducks defeated Auburn, 6-2, that season, in the only meeting between the teams.

The Ducks finished tied for seventh in the Pac-10 Conference with an 8-13 conference record this season. Oregon posted a 33-19 overall record in 2010.

Auburn is making its seventh trip to NCAA Tournament play and its third consecutive regional appearance. The Tigers posted a 1-6 record in the program’s first three regional appearances in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Auburn has gone 4-6 in its last three tournament appearances in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The Tigers are in the Atlanta Regional for the second consecutive year. Auburn went 1-2 in the 2009 Atlanta Regional, defeating Iowa, 1-0, in the first round. Auburn then lost its next two games, falling, 4-1, to Georgia Tech and, 5-0, to Boston University.