Colburn named co-Player of the Week

Delene Colburn doubled in her first collegiate at-bat, driving one to left center in the top of the second in the 2015 season (and program) opener against New Mexico State. And she's been a hitting machine ever since.

Her latest virtuoso performance at the plate, in last weekend's three-game sweep of Northern Colorado at Grizzly Softball Field, has earned her Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for the second time this season, the third of her career.

She shared this week's honor with Weber State's Sara Hingsberger.

Colburn, a junior shortstop, hit .600 against the Bears, going 6 for 10 with two doubles and two home runs to up her Big Sky-leading doubles total to 16, her league-leading home run total to 11.

She drove in eight, scored five runs and had a 1.400 slugging percentage. She tops the Big Sky in both RBIs, with 45, and slugging percentage, at .800, by wide margins.

After opening her career with a double against the Aggies more than two years ago, Colburn would go on to hit .383 as a freshman. Her average dipped to .344 as a sophomore, but her run production went up, from 38 RBIs as a freshman to 63 last season.

This year she is batting .408, the third-best average in the Big Sky, and she is on pace to have career numbers across the statistics spectrum.

"This year she's combined the best of both worlds from her first two years. We're seeing a complete package, and it was a very good package to begin with," said coach Jamie Pinkerton.

Colburn's production at the plate has helped Montana overcome the offseason departure of Lexie Brenneis and the midseason loss of MaKenna McGill to a season-ending injury.

With four Big Sky weekends down and three to go, Montana sits atop the league standings at 9-3 and is 24-19 overall. At this time last season, the Grizzlies were five games under .500.

"Del continues to develop as a leader for us," said Pinkerton. "She just leads by example, and the team follows her. We seem to go as Del goes."

Frequent visitors to Montana's home games at Grizzly Softball Field might be struck by two things: that Colburn almost always seems to walk to the plate with runners on base, which is a credit to her teammates, and that the bases always seem to be emptied by the time her at-bat is done.

It's no illusion. She has nearly twice as many at-bats this season with runner on base (81) than with the bases empty (44). And the more runners on base, the more dangerous Colburn becomes.

She's hitting .386 this season with the bases empty, .420 with runners on, .440 with runners in scoring position and .571 with the bases loaded, going 4 for 7. She has 13 percent of the team's at-bats this season with the bases loaded, 29 percent of Montana's hits in that situation.

In Friday's 9-4 win over Northern Colorado in the second game of a doubleheader, Colburn went 4 for 4 and matched her career high with six RBIs, with a three-run home run and a three-run double.

In Saturday's 11-5 win, she had a two-run home run in the fifth, part of a four-run inning that broke open a tight game.

"She a very good hitter with nobody on, but she really dials in and becomes a great hitter with runners on base," said Pinkerton. "She comes through for us more often than not, and she does it with such regularity that I think people expect her to do it all the time.

"I think what's important for her, whether there is nobody on or the bases are loaded, she keeps an even keel. Visibly she doesn't ever appear to be nervous or rattled. She's a steady force for us."

Montana will try to remain atop the Big Sky Conference and add to its season-high five-game winning streak when it plays a weekend series at Portland State.

The Grizzlies and Vikings (6-28, 4-8 BSC) will play a doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch at 2 p.m. (MT). The teams will follow with a single game on Sunday, also starting at 2 p.m. (MT).

University of Montana Athletics

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Lexie Brenneis

Delene Colburn

MaKenna McGill

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