LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After becoming Auburn softball's first All-SEC First Team honoree since 2017, sophomore Maddie Penta racked up another postseason accolade as she selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's All-Southeast Region First Team, the organization announced Thursday.
The award honors softball student-athletes from the association's 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member head coaches from each respective region voted on the teams, and all student-athletes now become eligible for the 2021 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
Penta is the 32nd student-athlete in program history to earn NFCA All-Region honors. She is the first Auburn student-athlete to be selected a First Team All-Region performer since Kendall Veach in 2019. Penta is the first pitcher in program history to ever win NFCA First Team All-Region honors.
The right-hander led the SEC and ranks 12th nationally with 23 wins in the circle, which include a streak of nine consecutive winning decisions to set a program record. Her 23 victories are tied for the fifth most by an Auburn pitcher in a single season. Penta has earned a win in 22 of her 33 starts.
Ranking in the top 16 in the nation, Penta sits second in the SEC with 258 total strikeouts. She is one of just seven pitches in program history to ever record 250 strikeouts in a season and is the first to do so since Anna Thompson in 2010. Her strikeout total has set the program's sophomore record and ranks sixth overall in Auburn single-season history. She has recorded eight double-digit strikeout games this season.
Having to shoulder the workload in the circle, Penta has allowed just 46 earned runs over 182.0 innings of work for a 1.77 earned run average, the lowest in the SEC. She has given up just 50 walks compared to her 258 strikeouts and has held opponents to a .181 average at the plate.
The Chesapeake City, Md., native also ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts per seven innings (9.9). Penta is fourth in the league in both hits allowed per seven innings (4.62) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.16).
To go along with her sophomore strikeout record, Penta holds the fifth lowest earned run average and the fifth most innings pitched by a sophomore. Penta also ranks tied for second in Auburn single-season history in games started, fourth in strikeouts per seven innings, tied for fifth in opponent batting average, seventh in combined shutouts (6), and eighth in strikeouts looking (53).
In just her sophomore season, Penta ranks sixth in Auburn career history with 363 strikeouts.
The 2022 NFCA Division I All-America teams, voted on by the NFCA DI All-American Committee, will be announced on Wednesday, June 1.
Maddie Penta named to NFCA All-Southeast Region First Team
