Junior catcher Roya St. Clair wasn’t much of a run producer for the Michigan softball team last season.

She scored just six runs and had 15 RBI in 60 games.

But this weekend, St. Clair had seven hits and nine RBI in 15 at-bats as No. 6 Michigan finished with a 4-1 record at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nev.

In Friday’s opening game against Brigham Young (5-3), St. Clair knocked in Michigan’s first two runs of the Classic with a second-inning double down the rightfield line.

The Cougars tied the game in the top of the fifth, but Michigan (8-2) answered in the bottom of the inning. Junior centerfielder Molly Bausher singled and advanced around the bases on a series of Brigham Young fielding miscues. The Wolverines won 4-2.

Against Louisville (6-1) later that afternoon, St. Clair powered Michigan to a 3-2 victory. Her solo homer over the left-field fence and a pair of RBI singles accounted for all three Wolverine runs.

The Cardinals threatened to tie the game with a runner on second and one out in the sixth inning, but Michigan coach Carol Hutchins brought in sophomore pitcher Jordan Taylor in relief of junior Nikki Nemitz. Taylor struck out five of the game's final six batters to slam the door on Louisville’s comeback.

For Bausher, a Las Vegas native, the weekend was especially memorable. For many of her family and friends, it was the first opportunity in three years to see her play college softball.

“I didn’t even know that some of my parents’ friends and my friends came,” she said. “I don’t look up into the stands and look for them, so I had no idea they were even there. But after the game they came over and said hi, and I was like, ‘Wow, thanks for coming!’”

But the laid-back atmosphere of Friday’s games was short-lived. On Saturday, Michigan faced its toughest test of the young season, taking on No. 16 DePaul and No. 4 UCLA at UNLV’s Eller Media Stadium.

The Wolverines struggled to come up with clutch hits against DePaul. After the Demons tagged Taylor for four runs, two unearned, in the top of the first, Michigan had at least one hit every inning. But the Wolverines scored just three runs.

Down 5-3 in their final chance at the plate, Michigan loaded the bases with one out. Nemitz struck out swinging, bringing up St. Clair as the Wolverines’ final chance. But the catcher flew out to left field.

The bitter taste of being upset didn’t stay with Michigan for long — it was passed on to UCLA just a few hours later.

Taylor held the Bruins to four runs in seven innings. That was enough to garner the win, especially with another big hit from St. Clair, who redeemed herself with a two-run double to center field to tie the game in the fourth inning.

Bausher gave her fans something to cheer for with two hits, including an RBI double of her own.

“It puts you in a more competitive mindset,” Bausher said of playing ranked teams.

The Wolverines will have to get used to that mindset. They play No. 2 Florida once and ACC powerhouse Florida State twice within the next 10 days.