Waterloo--The Penn baseball team went 3-0 with three unforgettable wins as it claimed the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament championship Sunday.

The Statesmen (35-15) entered as the #1 seed and held its position by rallying past #4 St. Ambrose 15-12 Friday, holding off #2 Mount Mercy 6-5 Saturday, and dropping #3 Iowa Wesleyan 5-2 Sunday. All games were scheduled nine-inning contests.

The title gives Penn an automatic bid to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round to be played May 12-15 at nine different sites. The nine sites include Lubbock, Texas; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Mount Berry, Ga.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; Cleveland, Tenn.; Azusa, Calif.; Hattiesburg, Miss.; St. Charles, Mo.; and Sioux City, Iowa.

Since changing to a conference-based national-qualifying format this year, the NAIA has tried to have most teams play as close to home as possible, so Penn is likely will play at either St. Charles, Mo., Sioux City, Iowa, or Cleveland, Tenn.

The winner of each of the nine Opening Round double-elimination tournaments will then join host Lewis-Clarke State (Idaho) in Lewiston, Idaho for the ten-team Avista-NAIA World Series May 22-29.

It is Penn's sixth appearance in the NAIA national tournament format since 2003.

The Statesmen won their tournament opener Friday with an incredible late-inning rally. Penn trailed 11-3 after 5 1/2 innings of action, but began to slowly creep back in with one run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-4.

The Statesmen offense then suddenly exploded as they scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead 12-11. Nick Golich (Jr., Aurora, Ill., Waubonsee CC) had the biggest hit of the inning with a three-run home run to cap the scoring.

St. Ambrose answered with a run in the top of the eighth to tie the contest at 12-12, but Penn had a little more left in the tank and scored three more times in the bottom of the eighth and held on for the improbable victory.

The teams combined for 27 runs on 36 hits (Penn had 17 hits). Surprisingly, both squads had just one error each.

Golich, Alex Chavez (Sr., Culver City, Calif., LA Harbor CC), and Steven Schultze (Sr., Simi Valley, Calif., LA Mission CC) all had three hits each, while Blake Willard (Jr., Tacoma, Wash., Green River CC), Jaime Ayala (Sr., Modesto, Calif., Modesto CC), and Matt Casey (Sr., Palmdale, Calif., Antelope Valley CC) had two hits apiece.

Golich and Schultze both had three RBIs, while Chavez, Casey, and Richie Hawley (Sr., Palmdale, Calif., Antelope Valley CC) all tallied two.

Schultze scored a game-high four runs, while Chavez, Ayala, Casey, and Eddie Sobczak (Jr., University Place, Wash., Skagit Valley CC) all came home twice.

Micah Spencer (Sr., Modesto, Calif., Indiana State) had unfortunately his worst pitching performance of the year, but was fortunate to have his offense help him out late. The senior gave up eight runs (six earned) on 13 hits in five innings. He struck out eight without a walk.

Daley Benson (Sr., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Yakima Valley CC) relieved Spencer, but did not fare any better as he allowed three runs (all earned) on four hits in one inning.

The tide began to turn in favor of Penn when Daniel Holland (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Victor Valley CC) entered the game as he kept the Fighting Bees off the scoreboard in the seventh. The senior did not allow a hit and struck out one with one walk.

Holland was lucky enough to be in the lineup when the Statesmen offense clicked and he earned the win to move to 1-0 on the year.

Joey Grant (Sr., Soquel, Calif., College of San Mateo), fresh off a 14-strikeout performance against Ashford Tuesday, then relieved Holland and was good enough to keep his team ahead and pick up his first save of the year. The senior allowed one run (earned) on two hits in two innings of work. He struck out two with no walks.

Friday's win kept Penn in the championship bracket where it met Mount Mercy Saturday.

Chris Wedel (Sr., Wasco, Calif., Taft CC) was the major story line as he pitched one of the best games of his life against the Mustangs, limiting them to just one run (earned) on four hits through 7 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked just one.

The Statesmen offense showed no hangover from the draining rally the day before, scoring once in the second, twice in the third, and then once in the fifth, sixth, and seventh frames to lead 6-1 entering the bottom of the eighth.

Sobczak had a solo home run in the second, while Garrett Jenner (Jr., Jamul, Calif., Grossmont CC) had a pair of RBI singles in the third and fifth innings.

Wedel ran into trouble in the eighth as he loaded the bases with two outs. Grant was then called on for another relief appearance and managed to get the first batter he faced to fly out to conclude the frame.

The senior was unfortunately not as lucky in the ninth as Mount Mercy came alive with a barrage of hits. Before he knew it, Grant had allowed four runs to come across on seven hits and the score was 6-5 in favor of Penn with the bases loaded and two outs. Grant fortunately regrouped for his final batter and induced a pop fly in foul territory that Golich caught to end the game.

Wedel picked up the win to improve to 10-2 on the year.

Offensively, the Statesmen tallied 14 hits, including a game-high four by Golich and three by Jenner. Chavez and Schultze both had two base knocks apiece. Jenner and Sobczak tallied two RBIs, while Chavez scored a game-high two runs as Penn advanced to the tournament's championship round.

Another dominating pitching performance led the way for the Statesmen Sunday as Keith Rizor (Sr., Westminster, Calif., Orange Coast CC) also tossed one of the best games of his career.

Rizor did not have a pleasant start to his day, however, as he allowed back-to-back solo home runs to begin the game and put Penn in a quick 2-0 hole to Iowa Wesleyan.

He continued to have issues in the next few innings, allowing two batters to reach base in the second and third frames and then one more in the fourth. Fortunately, none of those runners scored and the senior finally settled in as he sat down 12 batters in a row from the fourth through the eighth inning.

As Rizor found his game, so did his offense as the Statesmen chipped away at the deficit. Penn cut the lead to 2-1 in the second when Willard tripled to right center and then scored in the next at bat on a sacrifice fly by Ayala.

After a little squeak in the second, the top-seeded Statesmen roared in the fifth with four runs to take a 5-2 advantage. The first four batters in Penn's lineup all reached base in the frame as Chavez was hit by a pitch and then Golich laid down a bunt single to move Chavez to third.

Jenner then singled home Chavez to tie the game at 2-2. Sobczak concluded the scoring as he gave his team the lead for good with the biggest hit of the tournament, a three-run home run that easily cleared the right field wall. The home run was Sobczak's tenth of the season.

Rizor kept the score at 5-2 the remainder of the game as he only allowed a walk in the eighth and a single in the ninth before fielding the game-ending groundout and taking it himself to clinch the tournament title.

Rizor allowed two runs (both earned) on five hits in a complete nine-inning performance. He struck out six with two walks to improve to 6-3 in 2009.

Jenner was 3-4 to pace the offense, while Golich and Ayala both had two hits as well.