Auburn softball was on the wrong end of a wild game to open the Tallahassee regional on Friday.

The Tigers lost 12-7 to South Florida in extra innings, after leading by as many as five runs earlier in the game. USF scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning, highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Camille Ortiz-Martinez.

That helped the Bulls stretch the final lead, and the contest finished as the USF’s largest NCAA tournament comeback win in 25 years.

Auburn built its 5-0 lead in the first inning, but USF looked like the better team throughout the rest of the game. Amelia Lech was the star for Auburn in the loss, hitting a three-run home run to expand the Tigers’ lead in the first inning and a solo home run in the eighth to keep the game alive with two outs.

The Tigers only scored one run outside of the first and eighth innings, coming on an RBI single from Aubrie Lisenby in the sixth.

USF slowly chipped away at the Auburn lead after the first inning, scoring two runs in the second, third and fifth inning to take the lead, before Auburn tied the game in the sixth, which eventually brought the game into extra innings.

Martinez, Kathy Garcia-Soto and Josie Foreman accounted for 11 of the 12 USF runs, but Martinez led the way with the late grand slam.

SJ Geurin was the Auburn pitcher charged with the loss, pitching six innings, but taking responsibility for most of the damage caused by the Bulls. She gave up nine earned runs on three walks and eight hits, including the grand slam in the ninth.

With the loss, Auburn will now play an elimination game on Saturday against the loser of Florida State and Robert Morris. First pitch of that game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at@peter_rauterkusor email him at[email protected]m