NFCA Hall of Famer Eugene Lenti concluded his fifth season as an assistant coach for the Auburn softball program in 2024. Lenti primarily focuses on the Tiger offense, working with the hitters.

His fifth and final season on staff saw Lenti helped the Tigers to a 29-21-1 overall record while playing the 11th toughest schedule in the nation. The 2024 season featured Auburn’s most wins over Quad 1 teams since the 2018 season with nine. The Tigers earned their first series win in Baton Rouge since 2015 after taking two wins at No. 6 LSU. Auburn also clinched back-to-back series wins over in-state rival Alabama for the first time since the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Auburn also earned its 10th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance traveling to Tallahassee. The Tigers advanced to Sunday’s championship round for the second straight season.

In her best season of her collegiate career, KK McCrary help lead the Tiger offense alongside Anna Wohlers as the duo both ended the season with averages above .300. McCrary set career highs in runs (31), hits (43), RBI (21) home runs (11), walks (34), batting average (.307), on-base percentage (.454) and slugging percentage (.571) in her second season on The Plains.  

During his fourth season as an assistant coach, Lenti saw Auburn post a 43-19 overall record, its most wins in the Mickey Dean era. The Tigers also posted a 15-9 record in SEC play to finish third in the league, their first winning record and highest league finish since 2017. Auburn also earned its first series win over LSU and its first series win at Alabama since 2017 during its historic run. Auburn earned its ninth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and forced the “if necessary” game at No. 10 Clemson.

Offensively, Auburn ranked in the top five in the SC in runs scored (323) and home runs (64). Nelia Peralta was the heart of Auburn’s offense during the 2023 as she led the Tigers in hits (54), runs scored (39), walks (43), batting average (.329) and on-base percentage (.479). Peralta was the first Tiger to record 50 or more hits in a season since 2019 and her efforts were rewarded with an All-SEC Second Team and NFCA All-Southeast Region Third Team honors. Denver Bryant joined Peralta as an All-SEC Second Team member after tuning in a .322 batting average in SEC play.

At the plate a total of four Tigers closed the 2023 season with a batting average of .300 or higher, including everyday starters Peralta, Bryant, Makayla Packer and Carlee McCondichie.

Lenti’s third year with the program featured a massive overhaul to the program’s offense. More than tripling its home run numbers from a season ago, Auburn finished 14th in the nation with 86. The mark was the third highest total in a season in school history. Auburn’s offense was also highlighted with top-five season performances in team batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, triples, home runs, RBI and total bases.

After opening the season with a 24-1 record, the Tigers would end 2022 with a total of 40 victories, including top-10 wins over No. 8 Kentucky and No. 7 Florida. The Tigers earned a postseason berth as the two-seeded team at the Clemson Regional, its eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Auburn’s revitalized offense was due in part to the 2022 freshman class. Auburn’s top three RBI producers of the 2022 season were freshmen Bri Ellis, Nelia Peralta and Jessie Blaine. Ellis was the breakout star as she shattered the program’s freshman home run record with 20, the third most in the SEC. A top-10 finalist for Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year, Ellis was also tabbed to Extra Inning Softball’s All-Freshman Team and added Second Team All-SEC honors after leading the Tigers in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage.

At the plate a total of nine Tigers closed the 2022 season with a batting average of .300 or higher, including everyday starters Carlee McCondichie, who led the team with a .338 mark, Makayla Packer, Nelia Peralta, Sydney Cox and Bri Ellis.

Fighting the challenges of COVID-19, Lenti helped lead the Tigers to their seventh straight NCAA Regional appearances as Auburn boasted the seventh-toughest schedule in the country. Auburn won 27 games, highlighted by the program’s first victories in Columbia, Mo., College Station, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La., since 2015. The Tigers also upset No. 12 Kentucky picking up the series win at Jane B. Moore Field.

Breaking out as one of the two most consistent players at the plate during conference play, Makayla Packer and Sydney Cox were two of a program-record four Tigers honored as members of the 2021 SEC All-Freshman Team. Packer closed the season with a team-leading .303 average.

Lenti’s first season on The Plains was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he guided the Tigers to a 16-11 overall record that featured wins over No. 25 Northwestern and #18 Minnesota. Auburn posted an 11-2 record at Jane B. Moore Field over the 2020 season. With help of Lenti’s tutelage, three Tigers finished the 2020 season with a batting average over .340.

Head coach Mickey Dean announced Lenti’s hiring on June 14, 2019. Lenti was DePaul University’s all-time winningest head coach spending 37 years at the school from 1980-87 and 1990-2018.
During his time at the helm of the Blue Demons, Lenti won 1,327 games, while being named part of the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year six times, C-USA Coach of the Year once, Mid-Continent Conference (The Summit League) Coach of the Year three times and North Star Conference Coach of the Year once. He was also named C-USA Women’s Coach of the Decade in 2005 and C-USA Softball Coach of the Decade.

Additionally, Lenti was named the NFCA National Coach of the Year in 1999 after leading DePaul to a school-record 54 wins, reaching the Women’s College World Series semifinals and finishing third in the NFCA/USA Today final top 25 poll. The following season, Lenti and his staff led the Blue Demons back to the WCWS after not allowing a run during regional contests against Michigan, Notre Dame and Central Michigan.

Lenti was inducted into the NFCA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008.

Lenti led DePaul to 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, including trips to the WCWS in 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2007. He’s coached 14 All-Americans, nine conference Player of the Year and 10 conference Pitcher of the Year accolades.

Prior to arriving at DePaul, Lenti was an English teacher and Chairman of the English Department at St. Francis DeSales High School.

Lenti and his wife, Kandace, have three daughters, Ali, Gena and Cate. Ali and Gena played softball at DePaul while all three graduated from the university.