Golden Hurricane strike early, down Grizzlies

Thursday, March 9

Tulsa, Okla.

5:00 PM (MT)

Montana

7-13

Tulsa

12-9

Montana

Tulsa

3/9/2017 8:01:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Tulsa scored three runs in the first inning, and they held up in a 3-1 victory over Montana on Thursday evening on the opening day of the Golden Hurricane Classic at Tulsa, Okla.

Freshman Michaela Hood got the start for the Grizzlies (7-13) and allowed just four hits through six innings, but three of those hits came in the first.

Julia Hollingsworth drew a leadoff walk. After a sacrifice bunt, Morgan Neal made it 1-0 when she singled to center to drive in Hollingsworth. Maggie Withee followed with a run-scoring triple to right.

Withee scored on a sacrifice fly to put the Golden Hurricane (12-9) up 3-0.

"Both teams had four hits in the game, but ours were spread out and theirs were together, so they were able to do some damage in the first," said coach Jamie Pinkerton.

That was enough as three Tulsa pitchers combined to hold Montana to four singles, one night after Emily Watson held No. 9 Oklahoma in check before the Sooners pulled out a 1-0 victory in 10 innings in Norman.

"Their ace threw last night, so they threw different pitchers at us to keep us off balance," said Pinkerton. "They have a quality pitching staff."

The Grizzlies scored their lone run in the top of the fourth. With one out, Delene Colburn was hit by a pitch, and Madison Saacke followed with a walk. A passed ball put runners at second and third with one out.

Ashlyn Lyons got Montana on the board with a sacrifice fly that drove in Colburn and advanced pinch runner Katie Jo Waletzko to third, but an infield popup left Waletzko stranded in scoring position.

Montana also threatened in the top of the seventh but came up empty.

Lyons led off with a single through the left side. With two outs, Morgan Johnson entered as a pinch hitter and singled to put runners at first and second, but the game ended on a groundout.

Montana left six on base in what was a clean, error-free game for both teams.

After giving up the three first-inning runs, Hood (1-2) settled down and was in command the rest of the game. She allowed only two baserunners her final five innings and faced only one over the minimum thanks to a double play.

"We got off to a rough start but then Michaela settled in," Pinkerton said. "If she can pitch like that all year, we'll win a lot of ball games."

Lexi Blevins (2-5) picked up the win after pitching three innings of effective two-hit relief.

Montana will face Texas Tech at 9:30 a.m. (MT) and No. 19 California at 11:30 a.m. (MT) on Friday.