Spring softball schedule takes shape

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The Montana softball team, which has 11 seniors and a deep pitching staff, meaning the Grizzlies are ready for this type of challenge, will be tested early and often during its spring schedule, which first-year coach Melanie Meuchel finalized recently.

As will always be the case, Montana will spend the first five weekends of the season on the road, playing tournaments at Grand Canyon, Arizona, UC Riverside and Oregon, plus one hosted by Southern Utah in St. George, Utah.

Of the 24 games the Grizzlies are scheduled to play at those five tournaments, 10 will come against teams who played in national tournaments in May, either the NCAA or the first-year National Invitational Softball Championship.

On the schedule will be two-time defending national champion Oklahoma at Grand Canyon's tournament and Arizona and Oregon on their home fields. Both of those teams hosted NCAA Super Regionals last spring, with the Ducks advancing to the Women's College World Series.

"We'll have a lot of opportunities to compete well with what our schedule presents and also be challenged at a high level as well," said Meuchel, an assistant coach for Montana the past three seasons before being named head coach in October.

The schedule will not allow for a gentle easing into the season. Instead it will be right into the deep end from first pitch. Montana will open with an evening doubleheader against Grand Canyon, a 36-win team last season and co-champions of the WAC, on Thursday, Feb. 8.

The Grizzlies will follow with games in Phoenix against Pacific and Weber State, both NISC qualifiers last season, then a matchup against Oklahoma. And that's only the first weekend.

"We didn't anticipate seeing a team of Oklahoma's caliber that weekend, but you never know when you put in for a tournament what teams are going to be there," said Meuchel.

"I anticipate they'll be picked No. 1 in the polls, so it will be exciting. Hopefully we'll rise to the challenge."

Montana will face Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, Colorado State, Arizona and Bryant at the Hillenbrand Invitational on weekend No. 2 in Tucson.

Louisiana-Monroe advanced to the NISC last season, and Arizona, eight times the national champion, hosted a Super Regional but was knocked off by Baylor.

"Arizona had a stellar year last season and has been a dominant program in our sport," said Meuchel.

"Some of our tournaments in the spring will be new to us. It gives us a chance to see different programs, different facilities, different places. They are new locations to play, so it gives us more experience."

Montana's third tournament will be at UC Riverside, a homecoming trip for seniors McKenzie Phillips (Riverside) and Gabby Martinez (Redlands). Madison Saacke (Los Alamitos) also hails from Southern California.

The Grizzlies will face regional opponents Seattle, Boise State and Nevada -- the Broncos and Wolf Pack played in the NISC last season -- at St. George, then close their road tournament schedule at Oregon. Two of their five games at Eugene will be against the Ducks.

Montana played Oregon twice last season in Hawaii, losing 1-0 and 6-0. The Ducks would go on to win 54 games, two of which came at the Women's College World Series against Baylor and LSU before being knocked out by the Sooners.

The Grizzlies' home debut will come on Tuesday, March 13, a doubleheader against Providence of Great Falls.

The Griz Classic will feature just a single opponent this season, Utah Valley. The Grizzlies and Wolverines will play three games over three days, Montana's final contests before opening Big Sky Conference play.

After getting four of seven league series at home in 2017, Montana will play four of seven on the road in 2018, including back-to-back weekends to open league at Idaho State and North Dakota, both of which were Big Sky tournament teams last season.

Montana's first home Big Sky series will come against Weber State the first weekend in April. The two programs were the class of the league last year, with the Wildcats winning the regular-season championship, the Grizzlies the tournament title on the Wildcats' home field.

"It's always fun to play Weber. As a fan base, I think people are starting to follow that more and more," said Meuchel.

Montana will play at Southern Utah, get Portland State at home and travel to Northern Colorado, with a mid-week doubleheader against Carroll squeezed in on Wednesday, April 18.

The Grizzlies will close the regular season at home against Sacramento State on May 4-5. That series will not only serve as Senior Weekend for the program's first four-year class to come through the program. It could also be a big matchup between two teams expected to be near the top of the standings.

"Sac State will be a challenge. They have the tools to be a big player in the conference this year," said Meuchel.

In an offseason of change for Montana -- out with Jamie Pinkerton, in with Meuchel -- it was also the same for the Big Sky Conference, which announced this fall a change to the postseason format.

After five years of the regular-season champion hosting the tournament, it will now be hosted by the previous season's champion, meaning it will return to Ogden once again in May.

It was a disappointing development for Montana, especially a senior class that came within a game of bringing the tournament to Missoula in both 2016 and '17, and had a goal of finally making it a reality in 2018.

"We were hoping that would be an opportunity this class, our original class, would have a chance at, but we're presented what we're presented with," said Meuchel, whose team went 5-1 in games at Ogden last May, 4-1 against the host Wildcats, who were previously believed to be unbeatable at home.

"Now that hosting is not an opportunity, we're kind of switching our mental gears. We've gone from upset and disappointed to hoping we make the tournament so we can step back onto the field at Ogden and try to repeat what we did last season."

University of Montana Athletics

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