Auburn took on Northern Iowa in its final game of the Plainsman Invite on Sunday and came away with a 1-0 victory as Maddie Penta threw her fifth career no-hitter.
Auburn avenged its loss on Saturday to move to 3-1 on the weekend and 7-2-1 overall this season.
Much like their first game against UNI, Auburn struggled offensively, only managing two hits in 17 at-bats and striking out 10 times as a team. The game’s sole run came in the second inning when Makayla Parker hit a single to center before stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball. A sacrifice bunt to the pitching circle by Nelia Peralta brought Packer into score.
Nelia Peralta (#13) tags runner on 2nd base against UNI at Jane B. Moore on February 25th 2024
Despite the sluggish offensive outing, Auburn hung on to win thanks to the no-hitter thrown by pitcher Penta. Penta continued her great season with seven scoreless innings and one walked batter and tallied her third double-digit strikeout game of the season with 11.
This game marks Penta’s fifth career no-hitter, making her second in Auburn history – only trailing Holly Currie who has seven such games. This game is also Penta’s 15th shutout game in her stellar career.
“Through the beginning of the season, I’ve had to work my way into my in-game mechanics," Penta said. "Yesterday’s performance wasn’t my best, I went into the bullpen and messed around with some things. I came out here and used my legs a lot better. It made my rise better and my change-up more deceptive. Perfecting my mechanics helps me thrown all my pitches better.”
This game gives Penta her third win of the season and moves her into a tie for second all-time in Auburn history with Lexi Davis at 63 wins. Penta has a real shot this season at reaching Kaylee Carlson’s 67 career wins for the first place in Auburn history.
“Stellar performance on defense, I think we made some nice plays," said head coach Mickey Dean. "Maddie (Penta) stayed ahead of the hitters. Our defense got the outs. We only made one mistake today. When you do that, you always get a chance to win a ball game.”
On the day, Auburn's defense accounted for five groundnuts and five fly outs. The only error occurred in the second inning. This comes a day after Auburn had three errors in one inning to give up three runs in a two-score loss.
Auburn will head on the road to take on UAB for its first real road test of the 2024 season on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CST.
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Luke McClure is a junior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
Twitter: @lukemcclure0
