ST. GEORGE, Utah - The Southern Utah softball team wrapped up play in the St. George Red Desert Classic Sunday afternoon with a win over Seattle U and a loss to Utah Valley.

Game One: SUU 6, Seattle U 5

The Thunderbirds used three home runs and a solid pitching performance from Kalei Watkins to come away with the 6-5 victory in their rematch with the Redhawks.

Kaitlin Williams got SUU on the board first with a solo shot to center field, her first of the season. The Redhawks took a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning, but Taylei Williams tied the game at 2-2 with a solo home run of her own in the third.

Watkins extended the Thunderbird lead in the fourth inning with another solo shot to center field and Southern Utah took a 4-2 lead on Madison Tuft's RBI infield single.

Seattle had a big fourth inning, scoring three runs on three hits and three Thunderbird errors to take a 5-4 lead. However, the lead didn't last long as the Thunderbirds were able to get it back on a steal of home by Taylei Williams and a RBI single from Javlyn Weaver.

Watkins and the defense shut down the Redhawks over the next three innings and secured the 6-5 win.

Every Thunderbird in the lineup had at least one hit in the game, including two hits apiece for Watkins and Makenzie Ball. Watkins got the win to move to 1-2 on the season in the circle. She struck out three Redhawks in the win.

Game Two: SUU 6, UVU 9

The long ball continued to be the story in game two, as the Wolverines and the Thunderbirds combined to hit five home runs.

Utah Valley hit all three of their in the third and fourth innings. A three-run blast in the third made it 4-0 UVU and another three-run shot followed by a two-run home run in the fourth made it 9-1 Wolverines at the end of the fourth inning.

Down to their final out and in danger of being run ruled in the fifth inning, Nicole Simonson knocked a single up the middle to score Samantha Guerra from second and keep the Thunderbirds alive.

In the sixth inning, Taylei Williams hit a solo shot and Watkins followed with a two-run blast to center field to make it 9-5 UVU, as the Thunderbirds kept fighting their way back.

They would get another run in the seventh on a Taylei Williams sacrifice fly that scored Simonson from third, but that would be all the scoring for Southern Utah as they fell 9-6.

Samantha Guile pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief in the loss, giving up just two hits and cooling down the Wolverine offense.

Taylei Williams went 1-2 in the game with two RBIs and a run scored. The freshman had six hits on the weekend, including three home runs. She also had four RBIs and four runs scored.

The Thunderbirds will be back in action next weekend as they head to California to compete in a tournament at Loyola Marymount University.

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