Montana seeking another series win

Friday, April 14

Missoula, Mont.

2:30 PM

Montana

Northern Colorado

4/13/2017 3:01:00 PM | Softball

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team, sitting in first place by half a game as the seven-week Big Sky Conference schedule hits hump week, is back home for a three-game series against Northern Colorado.

The Grizzlies and Bears are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2:30 p.m., then a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m., though that plan could always change based on the weather.

At a glance: Montana (21-19, 6-3 BSC) is the only team in the Big Sky that has won all three of its series to date, going 2-1 against North Dakota, Southern Utah and Sacramento State, and that has the Grizzlies in first place in the league standings, just ahead of preseason favorite Weber State, which is 5-3.

Of course it's a tenuous position, with only two games in the loss column separating first place and last.

Playing on the road last week for the first time since March 12, Montana came away with a series win over Sacramento State. After dropping the opener on Saturday by a score of 5-3, the Grizzlies rebounded with a pair of tight 3-2 wins in Sunday's doubleheader.

Northern Colorado (16-26, 4-5 BSC), picked last in the preseason coaches' poll, raised some eyebrows and helped its cause last weekend with a home series win over Weber State. The teams split on Friday, with the Bears winning 6-2 on Saturday.

History: Montana is 4-2 against Northern Colorado. The Bears traveled to Missoula in 2015 and won two of three in the Grizzlies' first year. In last year's series in Greeley, Montana scored 25 runs to pick up its first three-game Big Sky road sweep in program history.

Sydney Stites went 5 for 5, scored four runs and drove in the game-winning run in the top of the eighth as Montana won the opener 9-6. In game two, the Grizzlies rallied back from 4-1 and 6-3 deficits to win 10-6, scoring seven unanswered runs to pick up the victory.

Montana fell behind 4-2 in the series finale, but Sara Stephenson pitched six innings of scoreless relief and Ashlyn Lyons delivered a two-run single in the top of the seventh to break a 4-4 deadlock as the Grizzlies left town with a 6-4 win.

Weekend preview:

In facing Northern Colorado this week, Montana will take on a team without an established identity. And that worries a coach who is best trying to prepare his team for what it can expect.

Since the start of league, the Bears have had road wins by scores of 10-9 and 8-0. They have also been shut out twice, once by Portland State, once last weekend by Weber State. In UNC's two wins over the Wildcats last weekend, it scored 10 runs against one of the Big Sky's best pitching staffs.

Earlier this week, Northern Colorado traveled to Colorado State and had nine hits in 14 innings as the Bears got swept in a doubleheader without scoring a single run, falling 3-0 and 7-0. Who exactly is Montana facing this week?

"It's a team that can score runs in bunches, then they'll get shut out, like they did at Colorado State," said coach Jamie Pinkerton. "They'll get in a shootout, when opponents can score runs on them, then they go out and shut down a potent offense like Weber's. That makes them a dangerous opponent.

"You prepare the best you can, and you still go with tendencies. It's an opponent that could come in and score a lot of runs and have the ability to keep us down, or it could be vice versa. We're trying to focus on our offense, so that if it does turn into a shootout, we're prepared for it."

On paper it's a series that favors Montana, which has the Big Sky's second-lowest ERA (3.50), going up against a team that ranks next to last in hitting (.248), but that didn't stop Northern Colorado last weekend against Weber State.

In the teams' opener, the Wildcats held a 3-1 lead with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but a single followed by a home run sent the game to extra innings, where the Bears won it in the eighth on an RBI double.

In game two of the doubleheader, Weber built an 8-0 lead by the fourth and shut down Northern Colorado, limiting the Bears to four hits.

In Saturday's finale, Lauren Paige hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first, and UNC never looked back, winning 6-2.

Erica Dick, who plays shortstop and bats leadoff, is Northern Colorado's top hitter. The senior ranks sixth in the Big Sky in batting average (.377) and ranks in the top four in hits (49), runs scored (27) and RBIs (28). She was voted honorable mention All-Big Sky last season.

Northern Colorado has seven pitchers who have made at least seven appearances this season -- six have made at least one start. Senior Jayme Reddacliff has made a bulk of the starts. She is 9-13 with a 3.12 ERA.

Montana notes:

* Montana won its series last weekend at Sacramento State while scoring nine runs, losing 5-3 and picking up a pair of 3-2 victories. The previous fewest runs scored by the Grizzlies to win a Big Sky series was 17, which highlights the steps the program's pitching has taken over the last three seasons.

* Montana, which batted .276 in the three games, left 27 runners on base in the series, including 11 in the opener and 11 more in the finale.

* Sunday's 3-2 win at Sacramento State in the opening game of the doubleheader was Montana's first at Shea Stadium. The Grizzlies went 0-3 at Sacramento State in 2015 and lost this year's series opener on Saturday.

* In all three games last weekend at Sacramento State, the losing team had either the tying or winning run on base when the final out was made. Montana had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh in a game it would lose 5-3.

In Sunday's 3-2 decisions, Sacramento State had runners at first and second with one out in the opener before Maddy Stensby slammed shut the door. In game two, the Hornets put the potential tying run on third base with one out. Michaela Hood forced a popup on a bunt attempt and a groundout to end it.

* Montana's team ERA dipped below 4.0 after its 3-1 home win over Boise State back on March 21, and it's been dropping ever since. It reached a 3.50 after the Grizzlies gave up just one earned run in both of their wins on Sunday. Montana ranks second in the Big Sky behind Sacramento State's 3.00.

* Madison Saacke went 3 for 11 against Sacramento State, but it was when she had her hits that mattered. She drove in what would be the game-winning run in Sunday's opener with a double to left in the top of the sixth. She gave Montana the lead for good in game two with a two-run single in the top of the third.

* Delene Colburn led Montana in batting at Sacramento State, hitting .556 for the series to up her season average to .391, which ranks fourth in the Big Sky. Ashlyn Lyons hit .455 and scored a team-high three runs, Bethany Olea hit .429. She is hitting .424 on the season, third in the Big Sky.

* In Sunday's sweep, Colleen Driscoll started the opener and gave up one earned run in 6.1 innings of work to pick up her fourth win, surpassing the three she recorded last year as a freshman.

After issuing a walk to the first batter she faced in relief of Driscoll, which put runners on first and second with one out, Maddy Stensby got the Hornets' top two hitters to fly out to end the game.

Michaela Hood went the distance in game two on Sunday, striking out nine and allowing three hits. She is now 10-4 on the season with a 2.21 ERA, which ranks second in the Big Sky behind the 1.96 of North Dakota's Kaylin VanDomelen.

* Montana did not hit a home run against Sacramento State but did not allow one either. The Grizzlies have not allowed a home run since their second game against North Dakota on March 25 and have given up just three in their last 19 games.

Montana has given up 21 for the season, which puts the Grizzlies on pace to perhaps nearly cut in half the Big Sky-worst 55 they gave up last season.

Upcoming: There is still a long way to go and a lot of games to be played, but the end of the regular season approaches rapidly. After this weekend: at Portland State, home for Idaho State, at Weber State, with a one-day doubleheader against Carroll on April 26 thrown in.