Griz win on walk-off home run

Friday, March 16

Missoula, Mont.

4PM

Montana

11-17

Utah Valley

7-14

Utah Valley

Montana

3/16/2018 9:31:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

As Utah Valley starter Addie Jensen was mostly holding Montana's offense in check through eight innings on Friday afternoon at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula, freshman Jessica McAlister was busy taking notes.

"I knew from my previous at-bats she was throwing me first pitch inside, so that's what I was looking for," said McAlister about her approach to what would be the game's final at-bat.

After Michaela Hood, who matched Jensen in a head-to-head pitchers' duel, worked out of a jam in the top of the ninth, McAlister ended it when she deposited the first pitch in the bottom half of the inning in a snowbank outside the left-field wall, giving the Grizzlies a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Wolverines.

It was the first walk-off home run in program history and the first ever for McAlister, whose game-winning hit landed at the feet of her brother, perched as he was atop the snowbank to best view his little sister's big moment.

McAlister slams the winning run pic.twitter.com/ogNIrmb6Gc
— Montana Griz SB (@MontanaGrizSB) March 17, 2018

"I sprinted around first and didn't even know it went over until I looked up at second and saw everyone was screaming. Then I saw my brother on the snowbank jumping up and down, so I thought, maybe that went over," said McAlister, who now owns that historic ball.

"It landed right in front of my brother, but he started running around and cheering and forgot to pick it up. (Dani Walker's) boyfriend picked it up and gave it to me."

The home run was the finishing note, but it was the pitching performances of Jensen and Hood that was the game-long storyline.

In the end, Jensen gave up eight hits, stranding seven Montana baserunners while striking out five. Hood allowed seven hits, striking out six and left eight Wolverines on base, including one in the ninth, when a one-out double was answered with a strikeout and ground out.

"That's good old-fashioned softball when you have to grind it out," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "The game was evenly matched, almost inning for inning. We left opportunities. They left opportunities. It was fun.

"But it's nerve-racking as well, because you know you're waiting on that one big hit someone gets or two hits back-to-back that puts that type of game away."

That could have happened earlier for Montana, but the Grizzlies left the bases loaded without scoring in the second and two more on in the third.

That allowed Utah Valley to score first, with the Wolverines going up 1-0 in the top of the third when Kirsten Andersen started things with a lead-off double.

She was on third base with two outs when Brianna Moeller sent a sharply hit grounder between third and short that went off the tip of McAlister's glove, scoring Andersen.

But that's all Utah Valley would get. Hood only had two 1-2-3 innings of the nine she worked, but she worked her way out of every predicament.

"They got runners on, but we found ways to shut them down," said Meuchel. "We threw well on the mound, and Madison (Saacke) did a great job behind the plate."

Montana tied it in the fifth. Kylie Hayton led off with a bunt single and advanced to third on a pair of ground outs. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Ashlyn Lyons singled to center, scoring Hayton and evening the score.

That put the game in the hands of the pitchers, and they got better as the game progressed. The teams combined for just four hits over the next three and half innings after the Grizzlies tied it in the bottom of the fifth.

Hood threw 145 pitches to pick up her fourth win of the season.

"It's hard. You lose some energy, but you just refocus. You want to win for your team, so it doesn't matter how long you go," said Hood.

"I was hitting my spots pretty well. If they hit it, they got a good hit off a good spot, because I really didn't miss a lot."

That set the stage for McAlister, who was making just her fourth start of the season at third base. She led off the bottom of the ninth, with Anne Mari Petrino and Gabby Martinez set to follow, if needed, which they weren't.

"My initial thought was I just need to put the bat on the ball," she said. "I just need to get on for my team. I trust they would have knocked me in. Either way we were going to win that game. It ended up that I was right on time."

McAlister's home run gave Montana its fourth consecutive win, all at home, and put her in the record book. Only one player in the program's short history can now forever say she had the first walk-off home run.

"It was fun to see her face after some snow flew off the pile out there," said Meuchel. "When they succeed, it's just pure excitement at what they've done to help their team. It's the funnest thing to watch."

Montana and Utah Valley will conclude their three-game series at noon on Saturday.