Grizzlies head to Cedar City to face Southern Utah

Saturday, April 23

Cedar City, Utah

Noon

Montana

Southern Utah

Photo by: Bill Jarvis

4/21/2016 7:31:00 PM | Softball

By: Montana Sports Information

The possibility of clinching a postseason spot. That is what is on the line for Montana softball this week as they head to Southern Utah for a Big Sky series on Saturday and Sunday.

A LOOK BACK: Montana is fresh off an impressive home stand, going 5-0 against Carroll College and Portland State. The five straight wins matches a program record.

The Grizzlies received stellar pitching from Maddy Stensby, who threw the programs first no-hitter, Sara Stephenson and Colleen Driscoll. The bats stayed hot, scoring 42 runs over the five games.

THIS WEEK: The series with Southern Utah will be the only action of the week for the Grizzlies. They begin a doubleheader on Saturday at noon with the second game following directly after. On Sunday, they have just a single game that also starts at noon.

A LOOK AHEAD: Great Falls heads to Missoula for a doubleheader next Wednesday, April 27. After the midweek home games, the Griz hit the road for a conference series against North Dakota on April 30 and May 1.

BIG SKY: With nine games remaining on the Big Sky schedule, Montana currently sits in fourth place in the conference. A sweep this weekend would guarantee a top-6 seed and a birth to the Big Sky tournament May 12-14.

Sacramento State leads the way at 11-1, followed by Weber State at 9-2. Idaho State, 6-4, leads Montana by percentage points for third place. The Grizzlies have two games in hand, plus the tiebreaker, on Portland State and a three game lead on North Dakota for the final spot.

"We want to go in with the focus that we want to play to clinch a spot this week. We are playing a team that is like a wounded animal, they have a sense of urgency and we need to have that same sense of urgency."

STENSBY'S NO-NO: The crowd of over 500 fans in Missoula last weekend were treated to a show by the young Montana ace, who dished out the program's first no-hitter. Stensby retired 15 of the 16 batters she faced, with a second inning walk the only blemish.

In her last four appearances, she is 2-0 with only two earned runs in her last four appearances, and has her season ERA below 4.00 for the first time since February.

"As a pitcher, similar to a hitter, when you try to guide a ball, it's not going to go where you want it to. I thought this past week Maddy, and Sara for that matter, both seemed to be relaxed and worked ahead in the count. As they went, they both seemed to gain more confidence."

LETTUS, BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Coach Jamie Pinkerton called on Tori Lettus to start at second base last week after she had just three starts all season. The sophomore from Bothell, Wash. didn't let him down.

Lettus hit .714 in the Portland State series, scoring three runs and an RBI. She had a couple of doubles and improved her average to .321 on the season. Gabby Martinez returns to the line-up this week, which leaves a tough decision for Pinkerton.

"Tori is hot at the plate, hitting .600 in conference play. She's forcing the coaching staff and myself to make a decision on what we are going to do with her."

OLEA'S STREAK ENDS, KIND OF: A streak that began all the way back on Feb. 20 in a non-conference game against Memphis has finally come to an end, as Bethany Olea failed to reach base safely for the first time in the final game against Portland State.

The only time Olea reached in the final game on Portland State, it came on an error from the center fielder. She still reached base, the 33^rd straight game doing so, but because she didn't have an at-bat that increased her on-base percentage (hit, walk or hit-by-pitch), the reached safely streak comes to an end.

Either way, Olea's season has still been very impressive. She sits atop the Big Sky with a .510 on-base percentage, the only mark above .500 in the conference. She is also the fourth best hitter in the Big Sky with a .410 average.

"In the middle of the line-up, which she has kind of anchored this year, she has done a really good job of working the count and getting on-base, whether it's by base hit or walk," Pinkerton said.

LYONS' STREAK ALSO ENDS: A school-record streak of 14 consecutive games with a hit came to an end in the first game of the Portland State series. The streak started on March 20.

When the streak began, Lyons was hitting just .185 at the plate with two RBIs. Now, she has a .329 average and 14 RBIs.

"It ended, but she started another one right back up. She got a hit right after, and she's got a hit in 16 of the last 17 games. She's seeing the ball well and has raised her average, she's starting to get her strength back from her setback early in the season and she seems to be finding a groove," Pinkerton said.

STEPHENSON'S COMPLETE GAME: One day removed from Stensby's no-hitter, another Grizzly freshman had an outstanding performance. Sara Stephenson threw all seven innings, giving up two runs and scattering seven hits.

"She gave up a bunt single in the first inning and they move the runner over and score her, but that was really the only hiccup. She settled in during the middle innings and really had a nice setup."

WHO'S UP NEXT?: Montana had at least six different players record a hit in all three games against Portland State, including some stellar performances at the bottom of the order, most notably from Lettus.

The depth at the plate allowed Montana to have a number of big innings, where they strung together multiple hits at the plate. The Grizzlies had four innings last week in which they scored five or more runs.

"Any time you have seven or eight players getting a hit in a game, as long as you aren't scattering them, things are going to go well," Pinkerton said. "Right now we are in a good stretch and we will enjoy it while we have it, and hopefully it will continue."

STITES CONTINUES TO LEAD: The freshman from Bozeman is creeping closer and closer towards a possible freshman of the year award, and she continues to lead the Big Sky conference in a number of categories.

Sydney Stites leads the conference in slugging percentage (.664), home runs (9), runs (35) and total bases (95). She has 15 more bases than any other player, and is also third in the conference with 13 doubles.

BRENNEIS ON A ROLL: Lexie Brenneis is a leader behind the plate, calming her freshman pitchers a number of times during the outstanding pitching weekend.

She has also been a constant presence at the plate for the Grizzlies, reaching base safely in 25 straight games, the new team-high. She is hitting .389, the sixth best mark in the conference. She also cracks the top five in the Big Sky by slugging .587 and recording 32 RBIs.

DRISCOLL DOMINATES: The Griz received a surprise relief performance from Colleen Driscoll, a freshman who had pitched less than 10 innings entering the weekend, in the second game of the doubleheader.

Driscoll pitched two and two thirds innings, not allowing a hit or a walk. A fielding error was the only thing holding her back from a perfect relief performance in the Grizzlies' 5-3 win in game two. The win was the first of Driscoll's career.

SOUTHERN UTAH: The Thunderbirds have been in a bit of a slump as of late, dropping seven consecutive Big Sky Conference games. In their last five, Southern Utah has been outscored 41-2.

On the season, Southern Utah is hitting .241 and have been outscored 322-122. Inside the circle, the Thunderbirds have a 7.12 team ERA, while opponents have a 2.50 ERA against them.

"They are a young ballclub that lost a lot to graduation last year. They will be a fundamentally sound team, Tom (Gray) has coached at the Big-12 level and he's trying to get players in and put his fingerprint on the program."

"What's scary about an opponent like this is, they lost all three games against Sacramento State and didn't score a run, so eventually a team is going to break out. That is a concern of ours defensively and on the mound, but hopefully we can get in there and win the series and they can break out when we leave town."