Griz make their home debut

After five weekends and 24 games away from home, the Montana softball team will make its home debut this week with five games at Grizzly Softball Field, where the team has a three-year record of 40-16, including a 17-5 mark last season.

Montana will host Providence on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in a doubleheader, then face Utah Valley three times later in the week in the Griz Classic. The Grizzlies and Wolverines will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, at noon on Saturday.

Montana will open its Big Sky Conference schedule the following week, taking a trip to Idaho State for a three-game series as league play begins across the conference.

Where they stand:

Montana is 7-17 and coming off a weekend of mixed results at the Oregon Invitational. The Grizzlies were at their best on Friday, shutting out both Bryant (7-0) and Toledo (1-0) to extend their winning streak to three games.

On Saturday Montana took a 5-2 lead into the sixth against Toledo but couldn't hold it, falling 6-5 to the Rockets. The Grizzlies then fell twice to the No. 5 Ducks, losing 6-0 and 7-0, getting held to a single hit over the course of 14 innings.

Providence is 2-7 and has lost seven straight games. The Argos went 0-4 last weekend, dropping four games to Southern Oregon at Pasco, Wash. Providence, which is counting Tuesday's games as exhibitions, was outscored over the weekend by the Raiders 58-10.

Utah Valley is 7-10 and will play a doubleheader at Boise State on Wednesday before making its way to Missoula. The Wolverines have won four of their last six, with victories over Southern Utah and Idaho State, and a sweep of St. John's last weekend at the Colorado State Classic in Fort Collins.

History:

Montana is 4-0 in regular-season matchups against Providence, which was known as Great Falls in those meetings. The Grizzlies won those four games by a combined score of 32-3. The teams met twice at Grizzly Softball Field in the fall, with Montana winning the exhibition doubleheader 10-2 and 21-0.

Montana and Utah Valley have met just once previously, with the Grizzlies rallying for a 9-6 victory over the Wolverines in St. George, Utah, last spring. Montana trailed 6-2 entering the seventh but scored seven times, getting two-run home runs from both Sydney Stites and Madison Saacke.

Coverage: Tuesday's doubleheader will air on SWX, which can be found on channel 199 for Charter subscribers and on the Watch SWX app, with Ben Wineman and Kempson Cross calling the games. The games can also be caught at WatchBigSky.com or on Pluto TV.

The upcoming series against Utah Valley will be carried on WatchBigSky.com and Pluto TV, with Cole Johnson on the call.

The state of Montana:

It must have been quite the scene on Sunday night as the hour approached midnight, not long after the Montana softball team arrived home in Missoula after another road trip, this time to Eugene, Ore.

It was the fifth straight weekend getting home well after sunset at the tail end of the weekend, but this time was different. The Grizzlies were going to be home for a while.

"We landed at our typical time, 11:30 or midnight, and usually we're dragging," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "But the team was pretty amped up knowing what's in front of them. They know they'll be home for almost two weeks.

"We'll play at home this week, then have a week of prep before we go into conference. It's energized us a little bit."

Montana played another full weekend of games in Eugene and had a Grizzly-like showing on Friday, opening with a pair of shutouts, 7-0 over Bryant and 1-0 over Toledo.

Game one starter Michaela Hood put five runners on in the first two innings against the Bulldogs but settled in after that, holding Bryant hitless over the final five innings.

The Grizzlies broke it open in the third, scoring four runs, highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Ashlyn Lyons.

Colleen Driscoll started against Toledo and was perfect through five innings: 15 up, 15 down. The Rockets led off the sixth with a single over the outstretched glove of Gabby Martinez at second and that would be their only base runner.

Driscoll put down the final six batters she faced for her first career shutout.

The Grizzlies came up with the only run they would need in the fifth. MaKenna McGill had a one-out triple, and two batters later Lyons brought her home with a sacrifice fly.

Montana appeared to be on its way to its fourth consecutive win when it jumped out to a 5-1 lead on the Rockets on Saturday afternoon, but Toledo got a three-run double in the bottom of the sixth to tie it and scored the game-winner in the seventh on a walk-off single.

It was that outcome Montana took into its first of two meetings with the Ducks.

"The way the Toledo game turned out might have had a small impact on us, but I think our team was excited for the opportunity to play Oregon on its home field," said Meuchel.

"We weren't rolling high going into that game, but being able to step foot with them on the same field brought some intensity to our team."

Yes, Montana lost those two games 13-0 and collected just one hit, an infield single by Ashlyn Lyons, but here is another way of looking at it: Oregon played five games at its home tournament and run-ruled everybody but the Grizzlies. That included two matchups against Weber State.

The Ducks had a three-run fourth inning in their opener against the Grizzlies and had a five-run fifth in the teams' second meeting.

"I wish our games had been a little closer and that we could have strung a few more things together, but we played well defensively and pitched it well enough to get balls where we needed them to hit it to," said Meuchel. "I felt like we got beat in two innings on the defensive side.

"I'm proud of the way we represented and played. I would have hoped we could have strung a couple of hits but I also respect what we were facing as well."

On Saturday night Montana faced Megan Kleist, who in her previous start no-hit No. 13 Florida State in Tallahassee. The Grizzlies got their first base runner in the sixth -- Kylie Hayton reached by error -- but she was later thrown out at second on an attempted steal.

Kleist finished with 12 strikeouts and faced the minimum 21 batters.

Montana faced Miranda Elish on Sunday afternoon. The Grizzlies were limited to a single by Lyons in the fourth and a Tori Lettus walk in the fifth, as Elish struck out 11 to drop Oregon's season ERA to 0.70.

"They pride themselves on it," said Meuchel of the Ducks' pitching. "We've seen some pitching like that over this five-week span, so it's a testament to how good they are.

"When they're good, they get you undisciplined. You're trying to push for that one hit to try to start something, and it gets you outside the zone you want to be swinging at."

After playing Providence on Tuesday, Montana will face a big offense later in the week when it takes on Utah Valley.

The Wolverines are batting .294 as a team, with a .436 slugging percentage thanks to 33 extra-base hits. Five players have multiple home runs this season for Utah Valley, which has scored three or more runs in each of its last 10 games.

Montana is batting .243 this season, with a .303 slugging percentage. Two players -- Delene Colburn and Ashlyn Lyons, who bat No. 2 and 3 in the lineup -- have 14 of the team's 23 extra-base hits.

"Utah Valley swings it very well," said Meuchel. "They are well-coached and take a lot of pride in their offense. They have a presence at the plate and take their cuts. It will be a fun three-game series."

Montana notes:

* MaKenna McGill gave Montana its second Big Sky Player of the Week last week when she was recognized for her play at the Red Desert Classic in St. George. She went 10 for 19 (.526) in five games, with four RBIs and seven runs scored.

Delene Colburn picked up the same award on Feb. 20 after Montana's second weekend of games, at the Arizona Hillenbrand Invitational. She batted .571 in five games, using a pair of home runs for a 1.071 slugging percentage.

* Freshman Tristin Achenbach made her first appearance since March 2 on Sunday, throwing a hit-less inning in relief against Oregon.

* With Alex Wardlow mostly unavailable last weekend, Kylie Hayton made five starts in right field. She had four hits in Montana's first three games, two coming against Bryant for the first multi-hit game of her career. She also had her first collegiate RBI against the Bulldogs.

* Over Montana's last three weekends of tournament games, McGill has batted .426 to raise her average from .192 to a team-leading .342.

* Wardlow got the start in left field on Sunday, ending Anne Mari Petrino's hold on the position. She had started in left the first 23 games of the season.

* Every-game starters this season have been Gabby Martinez at second, Colburn at short and McGill in center.

* Lyons has been remarkably consistent in her career. She batted .303 as a freshman, .300 as a sophomore and .298 as a junior. This season she is hitting .324.

* Lyons hit her first career home run as a junior. She's added two this year, against Seattle and Bryant.

Upcoming: Montana will open Big Sky play with a pair of road trips, to Idaho State and North Dakota.

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Players Mentioned

Tristin Achenbach

Delene Colburn

Colleen Driscoll

Kylie Hayton

Michaela Hood

Tori Lettus

Ashlyn Lyons

Gabby Martinez

MaKenna McGill

Anne Mari Petrino

Madison Saacke

Alex Wardlow

University of Montana Athletics