ST. GEORGE, Utah - Senior Nicole Chavez (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala High School) hit three home runs, including a grand slam, to power the No. 4 Dixie State softball team past Notre Dame de Namur in both games of a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Red Storm (38-7, 25-1) took game one 12-4 and shut out the Argonauts (18-25, 12-10) 10-0 in game two.

Chavez went 5 for 7 on the day, including three homers. She totaled seven RBI, scored five runs and added a double.

Dixie State slammed six homers during the two games. Marla Reiter (Rolinda, CA/Central High School), Courtney Sherwin (Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain High School) and Janessa Bassett (Stansbury Park, UT/Tooele) all hit one out.

Michelle Duncan (Gilbert, AZ/Gilbert High School) won game one improving to 21-0, pitched 4.2 innings, allowed three earned runs on four hits and struck out five before Brooklyn Beardshear (Tucson, AZ/Sahuaro) came in to get some work. Aryn Feickert (Lancaster, CA/Highland ) won game two with five innings and gave up two hits while tying a career-high with 13 strikeouts. NDNU managed just six hits on the day against the Red Storm pitching staff.

Game 1 Recap
Dixie State picked up two runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run single by Courtney Hine (San Dimas, CA/San Dimas High School). NDNU came right back in the top of the second with a pair of runs to knot up the score 2-2.

Sherwin blasted a shot over the left field wall with Reiter on board to regain the lead at 4-2 in the third inning.

An error by the Argonauts plated two more in the fourth for Dixie State but Notre Dame de Namur came back with a two-run double in the top half of the fifth, making it 6-4.

With the bases loaded, Chavez hit a grand slam to center field to break the game open at 10-4 in the bottom of the fifth. Reiter followed it up later on with a solo homer on a line drive shot to center. Dixie State got another run when Sherwin took third on a wild pitch and on the throw to third found her way home after the throw went wild to end the game in five.

Game 2 Recap
All the offense the Red Storm needed came in the first inning to put the game out of reach.

Chavez hit her second home run of the day with Bassett on base to make it 2-0 early in the first. 

With two outs, Sherwin kept the inning alive with a single to right field, followed by another base hit from Beardshear. Autumn Woodfall (Kaysville, UT/Davis High School) hit a fly ball to left that was dropped, allowing the inning to continue and scored Sherwin and Beardshear for a 4-0 edge.

Mallory Paulson (Fruita, CO/Fruita Monument) reached on a single and her and Woodfall scored on another error at shortstop by the Argonauts.

With the inning still alive, Bassett turned on an inside pitch and cranked it right into the right field scoreboard for a two-run homer. 

Still in the first, Chavez came up for the second time and hit a deep fly down the line in left that went out for her second home run of the inning and third of the day, making it 9-0 in Dixie State's first ups.

Feickert was rolling, taking a no-hitter into the fourth and fanning batters left and right. She struck out 13 of her 17 batters faced. 

The Red Storm picked up another run on Kristie Johnson (Temecula, CA/Chaparral High School)'s RBI single in the third, crusing to a 10-0 win.

Dixie State has next week off and will play at home in a four-game series against Azusa Pacific beginning Friday, April 24 at 3 p.m. MT.