Next up: The Red Desert Classic

With three early-season tournaments down and two to go, the Montana softball team continues its pre-Big Sky Conference schedule this week at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah.

The Grizzlies will play two games against both Seattle and Boise State and one against Nevada.

Montana will play five games next week at the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene, then return home for its home opener, a doubleheader against Providence on Tuesday, March 13, at Grizzly Softball Field.

Montana will host Utah Valley in a three-game series, from Thursday, March 15, through Saturday, March 17, in a slimmed-down version of the Griz Classic, then open Big Sky play with back-to-back road trips, to Idaho State and North Dakota.

The Red Desert Classic schedule:

Friday: Montana vs. Seattle, 3 p.m.
Friday: Montana vs. Boise State, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: Montana vs. Seattle, noon
Sunday: Montana vs. Boise State, 10 a.m.
Sunday: Montana vs. Nevada, 12:30 p.m.

Where they stand:

Montana is 3-11 and coming off its best tournament of the season, going 2-2 last weekend at the Amy Harrison Classic in Riverside, Calif. The Grizzlies picked up wins over New Mexico and the host Highlanders.

Seattle is 9-6 and has gone 3-2 at each of its first three tournaments this season, at Tempe, Ariz., Las Vegas and Stockton, Calif. It will be an all-Big Sky tournament for the Redhawks, who face Southern Utah and Montana twice, and Weber State once.

Boise State is 5-6 and hasn't played since Feb. 18. The five games the Broncos were scheduled to play last weekend at Central Arkansas were lost because of travel issues. One of Boise State's loses in Las Vegas two weeks ago was 7-2 to Iowa State and former Griz coach Jamie Pinkerton.

Nevada is 6-9 and will take a three-game winning streak into its first game of the Red Desert Classic against Weber State on Friday. The Wolf Pack have defeated Seattle, 8-1, Northern Colorado, 6-2, and Pacific, 6-0, during their three-game winning streak.

Series histories: Montana is 3-2 against Seattle, with all five meetings coming last season, twice at Santa Clara, three times at the Griz Classic in Missoula. ... Montana is 1-3 against Boise State, with two tense games at Missoula last spring, when the teams split. ... Montana is 1-2 against Nevada, with all three meetings coming in Missoula in 2016. The Wolf Pack won two of those three games at the Grizzly Classic.

Last week in review:

George Washington 2, Montana 1: The Grizzlies were limited to Maddy Stensby's RBI single in the third. Montana out-hit the Colonials but left nine runners stranded on base. Colleen Driscoll gave up an earned run in four innings as the starter, Michaela Hood gave up her only run in the bottom of the sixth in relief.

Montana 4, New Mexico 2: The Grizzlies trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth but scored three times in the frame, with all three runs coming across after a two-out infield error. Delene Colburn homered in the third, and Maddy Stensby threw six innings of no-run relief.

George Washington 5, Montana 3: The Grizzlies scored three times in the second to go up 3-2, but they gave up the tying run in the third and the go-ahead runs in the fourth to fall to the Colonials for the second time in two days. Colleen Driscoll didn't allow a run over the final 3 1/3 innings in relief.

Montana 3, UC Riverside 2: The Highlanders had won seven of eight, but the Grizzlies scored two in the first and one in the second, and never trailed as Michaela Hood threw a complete-game six-hitter, the second complete game of the season for Montana.

The state of Montana:

The Grizzlies picked up a pair of wins last weekend at the Amy Harrison Classic in Riverside, Calif., with both coming in different ways.

In Montana's win over New Mexico, the Grizzlies rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to win 4-2. The next day Montana built a 3-0 lead after two innings over UC Riverside and held on for a 3-2 win.

"We're gaining confidence that we're going to pull through in those close games," said first-year coach Melanie Meuchel, whose team had dropped four straight one-run games before defeating the Lobos.

"Being in tight games and pushing through was a step forward for us this past weekend. We learned that we can be in close games and not panic that it's tight."

Montana's last nine games have been decided by two runs or fewer.

"There have been probably three games this season that we have not fully been in, whether that's been defensively or offensively," said Meuchel. "Other than that, every single game we've played has been somebody coming up clutch on one side of the ball or the other.

"We feel as if we're piecing things together, but it's got to be there for seven innings. We're putting together productive innings, but it's that last little push. We showed that a little more this past weekend."

Montana's best win of the season was its most recent, on Sunday over UC Riverside, which has won 11 games this spring. The Grizzlies only had three hits against the Highlanders but walked five times and had at least one runner on base in all seven innings.

Defensively it looked a lot like last spring, with Michaela Hood going the distance. She allowed six hits, giving up two runs in the bottom of the sixth, only one of which was earned.

With Montana holding on to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh and a UC Riverside runner at second after a two-out double, center fielder MaKenna McGill had Hood's back with a sweet game-ending catch in the gap in right-center.

"We looked really good against Riverside," said Meuchel. "We knew they were a very respected team, a very confident team and a scrappy team. We played as though we wanted to show them that we were that kind of team as well.

"We jumped out early, and things fell our way. From that point on, we had a great confidence about our play."

After playing teams from all across the nation the first three weekends, it will be all regional opponents in St. George, with renewed meetings against Seattle and Boise State.

Montana played a pair of tight doubleheader games against Boise State last March in Missoula, losing 4-3 after the Broncos scored a pair of two-out runs in the top of the seventh and winning 3-1 behind a complete-game four-hit effort from Hood.

Montana faced Seattle five times last spring, losing twice to the Redhawks at Santa Clara, then winning three games at the Grizzly Classic, 4-3, 12-4 and 9-8 in nine innings, the first and third meetings ending on walk-off at-bats.

"These three teams are within the region from where our players come from, so we have players who know about these programs," said Meuchel. "On top of that, we've played all three teams the last two years, and they've been really close, competitive games."

After playing four games against the Redhawks and Broncos, Montana will close out the Red Desert Classic with a matchup against Nevada.

It's a program Meuchel knows a little something about. She coached there for seven seasons, from 2006-12.

"You're always kind of pulling for them, just not the games when we're playing them," she said. "It will be fun to match up against them."

Montana notes:

* MaKenna McGill went 6 for 10 last weekend at Riverside in the leadoff spot and also drew four walks to finish with a .714 on-base percentage. She will take a four-game hitting streak into this week's tournament, matching Alex Wardlow for the longest streak this season.

* McGill entered last weekend batting .192 for the season. She finished it hitting .306.

* Kylie Hayton led off the sixth in Montana's 2-1 loss to George Washington with an infield single for her second collegiate hit.

* Anne Mari Petrino had four hits in Riverside, as did Maddy Stensby.

* Delene Colburn made it three home runs in four games when she hit a solo shot early in Montana's 4-2 win over New Mexico. She also added a double and has six of the team's 11 extra-base hits this season.

* Colburn batted in the No. 2 spot in four games last weekend, the first time she's hit outside of the No. 3 or 4 position in the batting order since her freshman year.

* Maddy Stensby had a 0.00 ERA on the weekend, pitching six scoreless innings of relief against New Mexico. Colleen Driscoll had a 0.95 ERA in her two appearances, starting against George Washington in the teams' first matchup and throwing in relief of Tristin Achenbach in the teams' second meeting.

Upcoming: Montana will face Bryant, Toledo twice and Oregon twice at next week's Oregon Duck Invitational. At 12-3, Oregon is ranked No. 4 and No. 6 in this week's two national polls.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tristin Achenbach

Delene Colburn

Colleen Driscoll

Kylie Hayton

Michaela Hood

MaKenna McGill

Anne Mari Petrino

Maddy Stensby

Alex Wardlow

University of Montana Athletics