Tooele will need to be prepared for battle today when it faces Region 5 champion Bountiful in the third round of the state tournament.

The Braves have not been scored upon so far in the tournament with a 15-0 victory over West in the first round and a 9-0 win over Olympus in the second round.

"We're not taking them lightly. We don't know a lot about them and they don't know a lot about us," said coach Barry Pitt. "We've got to come out and jump on them quickly."

That's exactly what the Buffs did Thursday in an 8-4 victory over Dixie in St. George to remain as one of four unbeaten teams in the tournament.

Kelsey Mendenhall blasted a three-run homer over the center-field fence in the first inning with Matti Snow and Lauren Folta on base, and the Buffs increased the lead to 7-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.

Through five innings starting pitcher Folta had given up only one hit. But a pair of hit batters, a walk and an error led to three Dixie runs in the sixth.

The Flyers got two of their three hits of the game in the seventh inning and added their fourth run.

The late-game surge was not enough because the first five innings belonged to Tooele.

After the three-run blast in the first, Snow scored in the second on a double by Britanny Gonazales.

The Tooele first baseman pushed Tooele's lead to 5-0 in the fifth when she scored on a base hit by Whitney Holt.

Snow led off the sixth with a single, went to second on a sacrifice by Folta and scored on Kelsey Mendenhall's second hit of the game and fourth RBI. Kelsey Mendenhall then scored on a single by her sister Marissa Mendenhall.

Tooele plays at 5:30 p.m today against the Braves at Valley Regional Softball Complex in Taylorsville, 5135 S. 2775 West.

With a victory the Buffs  would play Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. and with a loss Tooele would play at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

mwatson@tooeletranscript.com