The Lady Statesmen (38-16, 26-4 MCC), who won 7-2 and 10-2 (6 innings), clinched its first regular season league crown since 2007 and its fourth in school history. Penn will enter next week's MCC Tournament as the #1 seed and will receive a three-game bye before having to play its first game on Thursday.

Penn started slowly Saturday and trailed 2-0 after the top of the first inning, but managed to catch up by the bottom of the second frame.

Hailey Dreyer (Jr., Twin Lakes, Wis., Dubuque) drew a bases-loaded walk to score Ashley Johnson (Sr., Burlington, Southeastern CC) and then Ashley Stream (Fr., Chariton, Chariton HS) had an RBI groundout to bring home Cassie Holt (Fr., Muskego, Wis., Muskego HS) to tie the contest at 2-2.

The Lady Statesmen took the advantage for good at 3-2 in the third when Christine Gamble (Fr., Pahrump, Nev., Pahrump Valley HS) recorded a pinch-hit single to score Krystle Carr (Sr., Acton, Calif., Paraclete HS).

Kara Atkins (Fr., Burlington, Burlington HS) singled in Leah Mork (Jr., DeWitt, North Iowa Area CC) in the fourth and Stacie Gaskill (Sr., Lake Mills, Lake Mills HS) sacrificed Carr home in the fifth to extend the edge to 5-2.

The scoring concluded in the sixth when Helton doubled home Stream and Helton then scored on a ball hit by Carr that was errored.

Holt led Penn with a 2-3 performance, while Johnson and Carr were both 2-4. Penn outhit Clarke 12-3, while the Lady Statesmen also took advantage of five Crusader errors.

Although she had a tough start, Allysa Fligg (Sr., Agency, Nebraska-Omaha) powered through to improve to 15-6 on the year. The senior allowed two runs (both earned) on three hits. She struck out six against three walks.

Penn fell behind early in the nightcap as well, trailing 1-0 after the top of the first. The team's six-run second frame made up for that as the Lady Statesmen rolled to a mercy-run rule victory with a 15-5 advantage in hits.

Hanna Meinecke (So., Jefferson, Jefferson-Scranton HS) started the inning by hammering a three-run home run, also scoring Holt and Carr. The roundtripper was her third of the year.

Helton then singled home Dreyer, while Johnson brought in Stream on a single. Helton also scored on the play as Clarke (16-24, 12-15 MCC) committed an error.

The biggest hit of the day came in the fourth, however, as Helton left the park with a solo shot, her 12th of 2009, but most importantly the 32nd of her three-year career. She is now Penn's all-time career leader in home runs, surpassing Kristina McNew's mark of 31, set from 2003-2005. Helton had seven home runs as a freshman in 2007 and a school-record 13 home runs as a sophomore last year.

Atkins followed up the home run with a single that brought home Johnson to make the score 8-2.

Stream singled home Meinecke in the fifth to set up the game-winning hit by Johnson in the sixth. With one out, the senior singled to plate pinchrunner Gaskill to give Penn the victory at 10-2.

Helton was 3-4 with two RBIs and two runs, while Johnson was also 3-4 with three RBIs. Holt was 2-4 with a run scored, while Atkins was also 2-4. Meinecke had just one hit (1-3), but she tallied three RBIs because of it. The sophomore also scored twice in the win.

All nine Penn starters had at least one hit in the day's second contest, while eight starters had at least one hit in the opener.

Johnson tossed a solid game to improve to 12-5 on the campaign. The senior allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits. She struck out six with one walk.

Next: Penn again hosts Clarke Sunday in another MCC doubleheader at 12 p.m.