Personal: Penta is the daughter of Mark and Susan Penta. She is the oldest of three children in her family. Her younger sister, Mariah, plays softball at Auburn, and their mother played softball at the University of Delaware. Penta majored in public relations at Auburn and enjoys going for car rides and spending time with her mini goldendoodle named Goose. Her hobbies also include working out, trying new foods, swimming, traveling, and playing pool. She lists former Auburn Head Softball Coach Mickey Dean and her mother as people who have made a difference in her life. Penta models her game after Jennie Finch and participated in soccer, basketball, and swimming as a child. She also lists meeting Mike Trout as a time when she felt starstruck.
2024 AUX Season: Penta secured 804 leaderboard points, including 640 win points and 124 stat points, during her first professional season. She made eight appearances in the circle with three starts and earned a 2-1 record with a save and a 3.94 earned run average. Penta struck out 16 hitters over 21.1 innings and posted multiple strikeouts in 7 out of 8 outings, including a season-high of three punchouts against Team Clark on June 17. She earned her first professional win against Team Wiggins on June 11, allowing one run on two hits over 3.0 innings of relief. Penta also secured a win after hurling 6.0 innings against Team Alo on June 23, giving up one run on three hits with two strikeouts. She registered her first professional save on June 22 after closing out a victory over Team Alo, conceding one run on three hits over 2.0 innings with two strikeouts.
At Auburn: Penta was a four-year letter winner at Auburn. She made 141 appearances, including 122 starts, for the Tigers from 2021-24. Penta compiled a 76-36 record with five saves and a 1.79 earned run average for Coach Mickey Dean. She ended her career as the winningest pitcher in Auburn history. Penta is second on the Tigers’ all-time list with 941 strikeouts over 706.0 innings, notching 53 complete games with 20 shutouts. She is the only pitcher in program history to register three consecutive seasons with 250 or more strikeouts.
Penta held opposing hitters to a .180 batting average, including a .160 mark during her junior season. She is a three-time All-Southeastern Conference performer, including a pair of First-Team commendations. She was selected as the 2023 SEC Pitcher of the Year and was a consensus All-America honoree as a junior. Penta became the first pitcher in program history to earn First-Team All-America accolades after being recognized with distinction from NFCA. She also garnered Second-Team All-America status from Softball America and D1Softball.
As a senior, Penta had a 16-10 record with a 1.90 earned run average, tallying 264 strikeouts over 202.1 innings while registering 15 complete games and seven shutouts. She secured 10 or more strikeouts in a game 10 times as a senior, including a school-record 21 strikeouts against UCF on May 18, 2024, in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. Penta also struck out 18 batters against Ole Miss over 9.0 innings on April 26, 2024. She tossed a six-inning perfect game against Georgia State on February 29, 2024, with 13 strikeouts, and also spun a no-hitter with an 11-strikeout performance in a 1-0 victory over Northern Iowa on February 25, 2024. Penta recorded a streak of five straight outings with 10 or more strikeouts from February 24 to March 3, 2024, allowing just eight hits during the run.
She led the SEC and ranked fifth in NCAA Division I with 27 wins during her junior campaign while adding three saves. Penta turned in a 1.33 earned run average to rank second in the SEC. She was the second hurler in program history to amass 300 strikeouts in a single season after ending the 2023 campaign with 303 strikeouts, ranking second in the country. Penta recorded Auburn’s first no-hitter against an SEC opponent since 2006 in the series finale against South Carolina on April 30, 2023. She made 42 appearances during her sophomore campaign, including 35 starts, and paced the SEC with a 1.76 earned run average after allowing just 49 earned runs.
Penta became the first Auburn player to earn First-Team All-SEC notice since 2017 after securing a league-best 24 victories, a mark that ranked 15th nationally. She earned Most Valuable Player recognition at the Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament after earning five wins for the Tigers and also strung together a streak of 25.2 consecutive scoreless innings during the tournament. Penta combined with KK Dismukes to earn a no-hitter on March 4, 2022, against North Carolina A&T. She appeared in 21 contests as a freshman with 20 starts, earning a 9-9 record with six complete game efforts and posting a 2.78 earned run average to rank third on the team. Penta tossed six complete games with three shutouts and fanned 105 batters over 88.0 innings. She held opponents to a .211 batting average en route to being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Penta tossed a no-hitter against Southeast Missouri State in her college debut, becoming the third rookie in program history to accomplish the feat, and also notched a no-hitter against IUPUI on February 27, 2021, striking out the first 16 batters she faced. She led Auburn to its first win at LSU since 2015 after limiting the Tigers to two runs with six strikeouts.
