The Lady Statesmen (40-11, 16-6 MCC) won by scores of 4-0 and 2-1. Penn has now reached the 40-win plateau for the fifth time in school history (all since 2004).

Penn, who outhit the V-Hawks 7-2 in the opener, scored three of its four runs unearned as Viterbo (9-31, 4-18 MCC) also committed four errors.

The visitors put the day's first run on the board in the fourth when Tyanna Helton (Sr., Santa Rosa, Calif., Palomar CC) left the park for her 11th home run of the season. The senior led her team with a 2-for-4 performance.

Run #2 came across in the following inning on a double by Khyia Lewis (So., Ottumwa, Ottumwa HS) that plated Leah Mork (Sr., DeWitt, North Iowa Area CC). The senior reached on a Viterbo error.

The final two scores were recorded in the seventh as Mork's single brought in Hailey Dreyer (Sr., Twin Lakes, Wis., Dubuque), while Mork came around for a second time on another V-Hawk error.

Monica Villarreal (Fr., Oceanside, Calif., Carlsbad HS) was dominant in improving to 19-5. The freshman allowed just two hits in her sixth shutout of the campaign. She struck out 12 without a walk.

The nightcap was a much closer affair with the Lady Statesmen giving up a first-inning run and continuing to trail by that tally until the sixth frame.

Lewis opened the sixth-inning rally with a double and then scored on a single by Molly Miller (Fr., Kalona, Mid-Prairie HS) in the next at-bat, while Miller posted the go-ahead run on a single via Kara Atkins (So., Burlington, Burlington HS).

Helton led Penn with a 2-for-2 showing as her squad owned a 5-2 edge in baseknocks.

Hannah Lugar (So., Kalona, Mid-Prairie HS) matched Villarreal at 19-5, giving up one run (earned) on two hits, while striking out six with one walk.

Next: Penn hosts one of the three MCC Tournament First Round double-elimination sets this Saturday and Sunday. The other two teams the Lady Statesmen will face have yet to be determined.