AUBURN, Ala. – Fresh off her no-hit performance on Sunday, Maddie Penta raised the stakes by tossing her first perfect game and the third in Auburn softball history as the No. 25 Tigers (7-2-1) walked off Georgia State (5-12) for an 8-0 win in six innings Thursday night at Jane B. Moore Field.
"Perfect games are special," said head coach Mickey Dean. "Maddie stayed ahead and put them away early in the count. A great game behind the plate from Aubrie (Lisenby) to go along with some great defensive efforts. We got some timely hits late to put it away."
Penta joins Holly Currie and Kaylee Carlson as the only Tigers to ever reach perfection. Carlson tossed the last perfect game back in 2017 versus Ohio State. In her third consecutive game with a double-digit strikeout effort, Penta retired 13 of the 18 batters she faced with strikeouts. She forced four groundouts and one fly out to keep the Panthers off the base paths.
Improving to 4-2 on the season, Penta is just four wins shy of setting Auburn softball's all-time wins record. She now stands second outright with 64 career victories.
Not only behind the dish for the entire game, Aubrie Lisenby was vital to the win as she drove in three of Auburn's eight runs off sacrifice flies. Nelia Peralta also turned in a multi-RBI outing with two off an single up the middle in the fifth. Chalea Clemmons walked off the contest with a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth.
Mariah Penta earned another start for the Tigers as she turned in a 2-for-3 effort with an RBI double in left field. Her single in the sixth set Auburn up for its walk-off win.
Auburn returns to the diamond on Friday for the Jane B. Moore Memorial tournament. The Tigers take on Northwestern at 5 p.m. CT to open the tournament slate. Friday's contest is available on the SEC Network+.