
Recap | Maddia Groff tosses perfect game versus Creighton in collegiate debut
02/09/2024 | 11:47:00 | Softball
SAN MARCOS, Texas — What a debut for Saluki Softball freshman pitcher Maddia Groff! In her first collegiate game, the lefthander made history by tossing the first seven-inning perfect game in school history, as Southern Illinois blanked Creighton, 3-0, on Friday.
The Omaha, Nebraska native retired all 21 batters she faced, with eight strikeouts, for the sixth perfect game in school history. The previous five were completed in less than seven innings, however, with the most recent SIU perfect game a five-inning blanking of Butler by Brianna Jones in 2019.
"It usually doesn't dawn on me until around the 5th or 6th in a game like that," said head coach Jen Sewell when asked about the perfect game. "We've really been focusing on getting our defense off the field so I was really watching that more than anything. I knew she was in a great rhythm because it was such a short time spent on D. We knew the no-hitter was intact but after the game, I checked to make sure it was a perfect game."
The no-hitter by Groff was the 34th in school history and the first by a Saluki hurler since Madi Eberle threw a five-inning no-hitter versus IPFW in 2022. Teammate and twin sister Rylinn Groff also made her Saluki debut for Southern at catcher.
"She is such a humble, low-emotion kid that she lulls us with her pitching. Shes so smooth and low-stress. Our team wanted it for her. But watching Rylinn call her through that game made it really special," said Sewell.
Southern got all the runs it needed in the first inning when Rylie Hamilton doubled home Elizabeth Warwick, and Addi Baker hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Jackie Lis. Lis added a solo home run in the third.
The Salukis (1-0) play UTSA at 2:30 p.m.
The Omaha, Nebraska native retired all 21 batters she faced, with eight strikeouts, for the sixth perfect game in school history. The previous five were completed in less than seven innings, however, with the most recent SIU perfect game a five-inning blanking of Butler by Brianna Jones in 2019.
"It usually doesn't dawn on me until around the 5th or 6th in a game like that," said head coach Jen Sewell when asked about the perfect game. "We've really been focusing on getting our defense off the field so I was really watching that more than anything. I knew she was in a great rhythm because it was such a short time spent on D. We knew the no-hitter was intact but after the game, I checked to make sure it was a perfect game."
The no-hitter by Groff was the 34th in school history and the first by a Saluki hurler since Madi Eberle threw a five-inning no-hitter versus IPFW in 2022. Teammate and twin sister Rylinn Groff also made her Saluki debut for Southern at catcher.
"She is such a humble, low-emotion kid that she lulls us with her pitching. Shes so smooth and low-stress. Our team wanted it for her. But watching Rylinn call her through that game made it really special," said Sewell.
Southern got all the runs it needed in the first inning when Rylie Hamilton doubled home Elizabeth Warwick, and Addi Baker hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Jackie Lis. Lis added a solo home run in the third.
The Salukis (1-0) play UTSA at 2:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Groff, Maddia (1-0)
L: Schopfer (0-1)

Batting:
2B: Hamilton, Rylie 1
HR: Lis, Jackie 1
RBI: Lis, Jackie 1 ; Hamilton, Rylie 1 ; Baker, Addi 1
SF: Baker, Addi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Warwick, Elizabeth 1 ; Lis, Jackie 2
HBP: Lis, Jackie 1 ; Groff, Rylinn 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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