Griz go 1-1 in St. George

Friday, March 2

St. George, Utah

3PM

Montana

4-11

Seattle

10-7

Seattle

Montana

3/3/2018 12:07:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team pulled out a dramatic extra-innings win over Seattle and watched Boise State pull away late as the Grizzlies went 1-1 on Friday on the opening day of the Red Desert Classic at St. George, Utah.

Montana scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to knock off the Redhawks 7-6, with Madison Saacke coming through with a game-tying double and MaKenna McGill the game-winning, walk-off single.

In the Grizzlies' second game, an Anne Mari Petrino bases-loaded double in the bottom of the first gave Montana an early 3-0 lead, but the Broncos would score nine of the game's final 11 runs, including a five-run fourth inning.

Montana and Seattle played five times last season and combined to score 51 runs, so it was no surprise that the teams' game on Friday got going offensively after three scoreless innings.

The Redhawks opened the scoring in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly, only to watch the Grizzlies put up five in the bottom, their highest-scoring inning of the season.

Saacke drove in the first run on a Seattle error, and with two outs McGill had an RBI single, setting the stage for Delene Colburn, who made it 5-1 with her fourth home run of the season.

Seattle fought back with three runs in the sixth off starter Michaela Hood to pull within one and tied it in the seventh off reliever Maddy Stensby.

With two outs and a runner on third, Stensby forced an infield grounder, but a Griz defensive error allowed the tying run to score.

"Seattle's comeback is kind of what they've been doing to teams and who they are," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "They're scrappy.

"They were never able to drive a ball in that inning, but they were able to hit balls around people."

Montana had no answer in the bottom of the seventh, going down in order, but the Grizzlies did in the eighth, after the Redhawks took a 6-5 lead.

With Petrino starting the inning on second base, she was moved to third on a ground out to the right side by Tori Lettus. Saacke followed with a double to left-center, and she later scored on McGill's single.

"It was a gutsy performance by our team. We stayed competitive and stepped up and had a couple of people drive the ball through," said Meuchel, whose team played in its eighth one-run game of the season.

"It's another one of those one-run games we've been playing in. We're getting a little more comfortable in those types of games and trusting that we'll have opportunities."

McGill (3), Colburn (2) and Saacke (2) had seven of Montana's 11 hits and all seven of the team's RBIs. Stensby picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-2 on the season.

Montana kept it rolling early in its second game of the day, against Boise State.

The Grizzlies only had two hits in the first against the Broncos but used an error and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases with two outs for Petrino, who delivered a three-run double (it was later changed by the scorekeeper to an error, which wiped out Petrino's potential RBIs) to put Montana ahead 3-0.

Griz starter Colleen Driscoll kept Boise State in check through the first three innings, but the Broncos got to her in the fourth, scoring five runs on five hits, including a three-run home run. All five runs came with two outs.

Trailing 5-3 entering the bottom of the fifth, Montana loaded the bases with one out but could only score two runs, the first on a Jessica McAlister single to right, the second on a Dani Walker walk.

The Grizzlies would leave the bases loaded, sending it to the sixth tied at 5-5. The Broncos would score one in the sixth off reliever Haley Young, three in the seventh.

"After taking the early lead, I don't think we played as sharp as we could have and kind of let them back in," said Meuchel. "We had opportunities, but we didn't step up or make clutch hits or move people over.

"It was a battle, like every time we've played them, but when it came to opportunities, Boise State took advantage and we didn't come through."

With Petrino's hit coming off the board, the Grizzlies had just three for the game, one each from McAlister, Alex Wardlow and Gabby Martinez.

Montana will face Seattle on Saturday at noon, then match up against Boise State and Nevada on Sunday.