LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For the third consecutive season, Auburn softball's Maddie Penta earned national postseason honors as she was selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Southeast Region Second Team, the organization announced Saturday.
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 2024 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
Penta earns Auburn's 35th NFCA All-Region selection in the program's history. With her third consecutive selection, Pena is just the third Tiger to win the award three or more times in a career, joining Kasey Cooper (4) and Emily Carosone (3).
A right-handed pitcher from Chesapeake City, Maryland, Penta led the Southeastern Conference and ranked eighth nationally with 230 strikeouts heading into Auburn's postseason run. She is just 20 shy of becoming the first Tiger in program history to record three consecutive seasons of 250 strikeouts. She's averaged 8.8 strikeouts per seven innings this regular season, ranking second in the conference.
Penta led the team with a 1.77 earned run average in the regular season, which ranked sixth in the SEC. She's allowed just 46 earned runs in her 182.1 innings pitched. Penta has posted 14 wins in her senior campaign and will leave Auburn as the winningest pitcher in program history, currently standing with 74. She's tossed 14 complete games this season with seven shutouts, which ranks third in the SEC.
Issuing just 58 walks, Penta's 3.97 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the regular season was good for fifth in the SEC. She's held opponents to a .183 average at the plate and allowed just 4.61 hits per seven innings, a mark that is good for sixth in the league.
Penta currently ranks in the top eight in 15 Auburn career pitching categories. She's just one of two pitchers in program history to surpass 900 career strikeouts. This season she has been part of two no-hitters and two perfect games.
The 2024 NFCA Division I All-America teams, voted on by the NFCA DI All-American Committee, will be announced on Friday, May 31.