The William Penn softball team was unable to defend its Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament title in falling to fifth seed Clarke 3-1 in eight innings Friday.

The second-seeded Lady Statesmen (33-19) were eliminated from competition in fourth place with a 2-2 record.

Penn’s top-two finish in the MCC regular season standings assured the Lady Statesmen of continuing their season at least one more week. The team will now play in their seventh consecutive NAIA Region VII Tournament in Des Moines from May 7-9.

Penn took the game’s first lead in the bottom of the fifth when Ashley Larry singled home Andrea Rensberger.

The Lady Statesmen retained that advantage until the seventh inning when, with two outs already recorded, the Crusaders plated the tying run to force extra innings.

Clarke then added two more runs in the eighth frame and Penn was held scoreless in the bottom half to end the game.

Kim Coleman led Penn with two hits as the team finished with six total base knocks.

The loss spoiled a tremendous outing by Ashley Johnson, who falls to 21-11 overall. The junior allowed three runs on seven hits, but struck out a season-high 14 with just one walk.

The 14 strikeouts are the most for a Penn pitcher in a single game since Steph Christner recorded 17 Ks against Mount Mercy on April 23, 2005.