Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ST. GEORGE - It doesn't seem that hitting is contagious for Dixie State softball team

It's rather expected.

The Red Storm put runs up in bunches in a pair of run-shortened outings against Notre Dame De Namur Thursday.

Dixie State took the first game 13-4 after a 10-run fifth inning helped them rally back from a one-run deficit. In the nightcap, it wasn't much different as the Red Storm got seven runs in the fourth and fifth in a 9-1 win.

"We're very disappointed if we don't have innings and games like that," Dixie State coach Randy Simkins said. "We were disappointed yesterday putting only six runs each time."

The win improves the Dixie State to 17-5 in the Pac West and 28-11 overall.

The Red Storm are set to begin an eight-game stint in the Bay Area on April 21 to close out their conference season, and for Simkins and his team, the margin of error is razor thin given the way the West region rankings have gone thus far.

"We can't control what the polls do," Simkins said. "All we can do is take care of our games in order to get help from anyone. We hope for the best that way."

Added Kourtnie Schlacter (Mira Loma. CA/Jurupa Valley High School): "With the rankings being so close, each game is important and we can't overlook any team. ... We need to keep energy and hit the ball and play the game like we know how."

Both games were played under a conference rule that had Dixie State as the away team.

Five of the 22 runs scored by the Red Storm came in the opening inning.

"Summer ball you see teams choose to hit first because it guarantees you a certain number of swings," Simkins said.

Schlacter went a combined 2-for-3 in the two outings, while Shantae Hunter (Idaho Falls. ID/Idaho Falls High School) continued her hard hitting with a 5-for-8 showing. Hunter also added six RBI.

"It's not complicated," Schlacter said of effective hitting. "You just go out there and don't think too much and things will happen."

Schlacter got the huge inning going with a single in the fifth, and though she was out on a fielder's choice on the next batter, the Red Storm never stopped pushing runs across the scoreboard.

The Red Storm tied a school record in team doubles with seven in the first game, and added three more in the second.

Schlacter said the momentum built from the 10-run fifth carried over to the next game.

"I just had to do my job," Schlacter said. "Basehits are all we need to get started."

Brittnie Whipple was effective in her Game 2 outing, allowing one run on three hits. She got a major defensive boost when Katlyn Nelson (Wilsonville. OR/Wilsonville High School) threw out Sammy McConvey at home.

It probably helped to see her team hit the opposing pitchers so well in the top half of each inning.

"It's nice as a pitcher to have your team before you take the field put up a few runs on the board or a few nice swings," Simkins said. "As a pitcher you can think, 'If I make a mistake, I know my team is going to get some runs.' Pitchers throwing with confidence are effective for us."

BY PAUL DELOS SANTOS • PDELOSSANT@THESPECTRUM.COM