Opening day is just around the corner

Friday, February 10

Cedar Falls, Iowa

9:15 AM (MT)

Montana

Nebraska-Omaha

2/8/2017 3:47:00 PM | Softball

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team, version 1.3, will open its 2017 season this week at the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Grizzlies will play games against Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota State, Drake, Northern Iowa and Toledo. Wisconsin is also in the field but is the one team Montana will not face.

The schedule:
Friday: vs. Nebraska-Omaha, 9:15 a.m. (MT)
Friday: vs. South Dakota State, 11:30 a.m. (MT)
Saturday: vs. Drake, 9:15 a.m. (MT)
Saturday: vs. Northern Iowa, 1:45 p.m. (MT)
Sunday: vs. Toledo, 7 a.m. (MT)

Coverage: All five games can be tracked through live stats, with links available at gogriz.com. Montana's two games on Saturday, against Drake and Northern Iowa, are scheduled to have video streaming, but the details have not yet been finalized. Those options will be linked when they become available.

Questions you're probably asking yourself:

* Two years ago Montana was getting ready to play its first games in program history at the Hotel Encanto Classic at Las Cruces, N.M., where the Grizzlies would get outscored 46-17 in five losses. Is third-year coach Jamie Pinkerton feeling a lot more prepared this time around? YES

"In comparison to the first two years, this team is more mature, more experienced," he said. "A lot of them have close to 100 or even more of collegiate experience under their belts now.

"Things were good those first two years (at our season-opening tournament) if things went according to plan. But now there is a sense of comfort, so if adversity hits, this team will know who to handle it better than those teams did. Experience and wisdom are great things for a softball team."

* It's been a rough winter in Montana, with record-breaking snowfall. Has that impacted the team's ability to prepare for these opening weeks of the season? YES

Grizzly Softball Field is more than knee-deep in snow. Washington-Grizzly Stadium has been plowed and been available for a handful of practices. But mostly the team has been preparing inside Dahlberg Arena, which isn't ideal to work on game situations, so Montana will definitely be at a disadvantage.

If it was two years ago, Pinkerton wouldn't be sleeping this week due to the stress of having an underprepared team. But with almost all of his starters back from last year, he believes this team will be just fine.

"I feel a lot more comfortable with this team handling those situations more than last year or our first year," he said. "We haven't been outside much or had live pitching, but the experience this team has has prepared them for it.

"There have been a lot of things we haven't been able to prepare for, but we'll trust their experience and softball IQ to handle those situations. Even though we haven't worked on them, they know what to do. They might make a mistake, but it will be because of rust more than not knowing what to do."

* Is it a good tournament field, or should Montana return home with five wins and a scoring margin of +78? YES (field) and NO (+78)

The field is loaded, with four of Montana's five opponents picking up first-place votes in their preseason conference polls. The Grizzlies also picked up a first-place vote, getting picked third in the Big Sky behind Weber State and Sacramento State.

Nebraska-Omaha won 30 games last season and was picked to finish second in the Summit League behind neighborhood bully North Dakota State. South Dakota State, which went 23-34 last season, was picked fifth in the Summit League.

Drake, another 30-win team last season, was picked to top the Missouri Valley Conference, just ahead of Wichita State, who Montana will face at Tulsa's tournament in March. Northern Iowa, 38-19 last season, was picked fourth in the Missouri Valley.

Toledo, 21-33 a year ago, was voted to finish third in the West Division of the MAC.

"We're not in a situation where we're going to be playing Power 5 schools like we did two years ago (to open the season)," said Pinkerton. "The teams are more evenly matched, but the field is strong.

"It's a pretty good field. I'm excited about it. We'll get out there and see where we're at. We've seen some of these teams before, so maybe we can even some scores."

* So that means Montana has played some of these teams before? YES

Nebraska-Omaha traveled to Missoula last March for Montana's home tournament and split with the Grizzlies, winning 12-3 and losing 1-0 as Sara Stephenson pitched a six-hit shutout.

Montana lost 10-3 to South Dakota State in 2015 at Fresno State's tournament and 7-1 to Northern Iowa last season at Arizona State's tournament.

The Grizzlies will be playing Drake and Toledo for the first time.

* Is the tournament actually being played in a dome? Is that a first for Montana? YES and YES

Anybody who watched Montana's 20-14 road win over Northern Iowa in football last September got a look at the UNI-Dome. When it's set up for softball, it is 210 feet down the left-field line, 230 to center and a short 185 to right, with a Green Monster-like wall (or normal-sized wall topped with a curtain).

With the turf inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium and the turf at Grizzly Softball Field, at least that part of the experience won't be new.

"We should be able to handle the turf, though it might take us a while to get used to the type of turf it is," said Pinkerton, whose team played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis when he was coaching at Arkansas. "That shouldn't be a problem for us.

"We'll have to deal with banks of lights, and that has the potential to be problematic if you've never done it before. But it's still 60 feet between bases and we'll still have to throw and catch at a high level to win. That's what I'm hoping we'll do."

* Will Montana do anything differently with its pitching staff this early in the season? YES

For starters (and from the starters) don't expect any complete games. Part of that is because it's the first weekend of the season. But the weather in Montana hasn't helped.

"Since we haven't been able to scrimmage, it might be tough to stretch them out seven innings from a stamina standpoint. So I'd be surprised if there were any complete games," said Pinkerton. "It's not that we don't have the talent. It's just whether the pitchers have been stretched out."

Montana's staff includes junior Haley Young, sophomores Colleen Driscoll, Maddy Stensby and Sara Stephenson, and freshman Michaela Hood.

Stephenson, who was voted second-team All-Big Sky Conference, won 14 games as a freshman in 2016 and had the team's best ERA of 4.56. She won her final five decisions of the season. Stensby won four games last year, two of which came by no-hitting Portland State and Great Falls.

All five pitchers should get some time inside the circle this weekend.

"If we can get five innings out of our starters, then go with matchups to get through the sixth and seventh, that would be the plan at this point," said Pinkerton.

"If someone goes out and is cruising along, we'll let them go, but I'm looking for four or five good innings, then bringing in the cavalry."

* Should we expect to see mostly the same lineup as last spring? YES

With most of the starters back from a team that won 29 games last year and went 16-4 the final month of the season, why mess with what works?

The infield, with junior Ashlyn Lyons at first, junior Gabby Martinez at second, junior Delene Colburn at short and senior Bethany Olea at third, is rock solid. Last week's position preview spelled it out in detail.

Expect 2016 Big Sky Freshman of the Year Sydney Stites, who pines to get back into the infield, to start in right field, with junior MaKenna McGill holding down center, which she has done for all but three games in her career. Read more about the outfield here.

* Are there any question marks at all for this team? YES

Lexie Brenneis, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year in 2015 and unanimous first-team All-Big Sky selection last spring, was a mainstay behind the plate the first two years of the program. Her decision not to return led to the only real personnel issue.

Junior Madison Saacke is ready to step in, but she underwent knee surgery last summer and is still regaining her strength. Junior Dani Walker will split time with Saacke this weekend. Expect freshman Morgan Johnson to get her first collegiate experience as the DP.

Left field did not have a regular starter last season, so there is no incumbent on the roster. Pinkerton has hinted that junior Alex Wardlow has given herself the chance to win the position early in the season.

All 20 players on Pinkerton's roster will probably see the field in some role this week.

"It's been a pretty steady lineup the last two years, so I think our lineup (this weekend) would be pretty familiar to what Griz fans are used to seeing," said Pinkerton. "There will be some platooning going on at catcher until we see how Madison holds up, and that will affect the DP.

"It would be optimal to get everybody in this weekend, but we'll go with the flow of the game. I think everyone will see some sort of time, whether it's a pinch runner or defensive replacement.

"We'll play the games, then come back and evaluate and get to work on the things we're capable of working on and try to improve and get ready for next week. The big thing is playing someone else this weekend and seeing how it turns out."

* Is there a stat that I can use to impress my friends, family and co-workers? YES

Stites enters the season on a 13-game hitting streak, one short of Lyons' program record of 14. Major League Baseball recognizes hitting streaks that carry over to the next season, so we will as well.

Upcoming: Montana will travel to Santa Clara, Calif., next week and face Seattle (two times) and Santa Clara (three times) at the Bronco Classic.