Competition increases as Week 2 arrives

The Montana softball team, which went 1-4 at the NorCal Kickoff last week, will play in its second of five early-season tournaments this week when the Grizzlies travel to Las Cruces, N.M., for New Mexico State's Troy Cox Classic.

Three of Montana's five games at the New Mexico State Softball Complex will be against teams that advanced last season to the NCAA tournament.

The schedule:

Friday, 9 a.m. -- vs. San Jose State
Friday, 11:30 a.m. -- vs. Bradley
Saturday, 9 a.m. -- vs. Texas State
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. -- at New Mexico State
Sunday, 9 a.m. -- vs. Texas State

San Jose State won 32 games and finished second in the Mountain West Conference last season, Texas State won 43 games and the Sun Belt Conference and advanced to the NCAA tournament, and New Mexico State won the Western Athletic Conference and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies (1-4) opened their season with a 3-0 victory over Santa Clara on Friday at the NorCal Kickoff, then lost four straight, including an eight-inning decision against UC Santa Barbara and one-run setbacks against UC Davis and Cal State Bakersfield.

At a glance (San Jose State): The Spartans are 3-3 after opening their season at Southeastern Louisiana's tournament and picking up wins over Southeastern Louisiana, Northern Illinois and Mississippi Valley State. ... San Jose State went 32-17 last season and finished second behind Boise State in the Mountain West at 16-8. ... The Spartans were picked third in the Mountain West preseason poll, coming in behind Boise State and Fresno State.

At a glance (Bradley): The Braves are 1-4 after competing last weekend at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Their lone win was 5-4 over Seattle, when they scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded outfield error. ... Bradley went 20-30 last season and finished eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference at 9-15. ... The Braves were picked to repeat that finish this spring, getting picked eighth out of 10 teams in the preseason poll.

At a glance (Texas State): The Bobcats went 2-2 at home last week, with wins over Colorado State and North Dakota State and one-run losses to Texas-San Antonio and NDSU. ... Texas State came in four spots out of the top 25 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches and ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason national polls and second, behind Louisiana, in the Sun Belt poll. ... The Bobcats went 43-16 last season, with wins over No. 12 Baylor, Texas and two over No. 21 Louisiana. ... Texas State went 18-5 in the Sun Belt and won the conference tournament. ... The Bobcats played at the UCLA regional and picked up an 8-4 victory over Big Sky champion Sacramento State.

At a glance (New Mexico State): The Aggies are 4-0 after outscoring four opponents at home last weekend 41-16. ... New Mexico State went 29-24 last season, including 11-4 in WAC games to win its fourth consecutive regular-season title. ... Two of the Aggies' wins in 2018 came against a ranked Kentucky team that would later advance to face Oregon in an NCA Super Regional. ... New Mexico State went 0-2 at the Arizona State regional. ... The Aggies were picked to repeat at WAC champions in 2019. ... Senior first baseman Kelsey Horton was voted the WAC Preseason Player of the Year, senior Kayla Green the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

The week in review:

Montana 3, Santa Clara 0 -- Colleen Driscoll and Tristin Achenbach, who collected her first collegiate save, combined for the shutout. Lexie Knauss's RBI single in the sixth was the game-winning hit. The Grizzlies would add two more in the seventh on a fielder's choice and RBI groundout.

UC Davis 2, Montana 1 -- The Grizzlies had just four hits off UC Davis starter Katie Kibby. Their only run would come in the top of the first, on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded. The Aggies scored their runs in the third, both coming after two outs and a Montana error that extended the inning.

UC Santa Barbara 11, Montana 6 (8) -- The Grizzlies scored three in the first, fell behind 6-3 in the second and sent it to extras with three in the fifth. The Gauchos would win it in eight, with five runs on three hits and a Montana error after the inning began with a runner on second base.

UC Davis 10, Montana 4 -- The Aggies, who jumped out to a 7-0 lead, would score in the first three innings and the final three, being held off the scoreboard only in the fourth. All of Montana's runs came in the fifth, when the Grizzlies had four of their five hits for the game.

Cal State Bakersfield 3, Montana 2 -- A Cami Sellers double and Maygen McGrath triple put Montana up 2-0 in the third. The Roadrunners would tie it in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out infield single and win it in the seventh on a two-out RBI single that plated a player who drew a one-out walk.

Notables:

* Colleen Driscoll needed just 56 pitches to make it through five complete innings in Montana's victory over Santa Clara to pick up the win. Tristin Achenbach struck out three and didn't allow a hit in her two innings of work for her first collegiate save.

* Montana's ERA in its three games played on Friday and Sunday at the NorCal Kickoff: 0.71. The Grizzlies' ERA in two games on Saturday: 8.40.

* Freshman Maygen McGrath had the team's best batting average at the NorCal Kickoff, hitting .385. She had five hits in 13 at-bats, with a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored. She also walked two times and twice was hit by a pitch.

* Montana batters were plunked by a pitch seven times in five games in California, with Jessica McAlister taking three, McGrath two.

* Cami Sellers and Lexi Knauss matched McGrath with five hits. Both had a team-high 18 at-bats and hit .278.

* Maddy Stensby was the only other Montana player, other than McGrath, to hit better than .300 on the weekend. Stensby went 3 for 9, with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

* Montana's starting outfield of Anne Mari Petrino (left), Kylie Hayton (center) and Brooklyn Weisgram (right) was 3 for 37 at the NorCal Kickoff, with Weisgram, a freshman, collecting two of those three hits.

* Weisgram doubled to center in her second collegiate at-bat, in the sixth against Santa Clara.

* Montana's other freshmen starters in that game also did not take long to pick up their first hit. McGrath and Kylie Becker both singled in the seventh against the Broncos.

* McAlister played in four of Montana's five games and was on base throughout. She had two hits in seven at-bats and drew three walks while getting hit by a pitch three times as well. She ended the weekend with a team-best .615 on-base percentage.

* There was just a single home run in Montana's five games last weekend. UC Davis hit one off starter Tristin Achenbach in the top of the first in Saturday's matchup between the teams.

* Kylie Becker, Maygen McGrath, Maddy Stensby and Cami Sellers all had a two-hit game at the NorCal Kickoff. Kylie Hayton had the only two-RBI game, when she drove in two against UC Santa Barbara.

* Lexi Knauss had a base hit in all five games in California. She had three hits all of last season, when she made 39 at-bats, usually in a pinch-hitting role.

* Cami Sellers went 5 for 15 over Montana's final four games in California after going 0 for 3 in her Griz debut.

* Montana's starting infield was the same all five games at the NorCal Kickoff: Sellers at first, Knauss at second, Becker at third and McGrath at short. Same for the outfield: Petrino in left, Hayton in center and Weisgram in right.

* Jessica McAlister started four games at catcher. Freshman McKenna Tjaden made the other start behind the plate.

* Maygen McGrath, at No. 4, Brooklyn Weisgram, at No. 8, and Kylie Becker, at No. 9, were the only constants in the batting order through the first five games.

* Maddy Stensby (11 1/3), Colleen Driscoll (9 2/3) and Michaela Hood (9 1/3) pitched a bulk of the innings in California, with Tristin Achenbach throwing 4 1/3. Hood's start on Sunday against Cal State Bakersfield was the only complete game. She threw 112 pitches against the Roadrunners.

* Montana attempted just three steals in five games, with Kylie Hayton going 1 for 1, Maygen McGrath 0 for 2. The Grizzlies' opponents went 4 for 9, with Jessica McAlister throwing out five would-be base stealers.

* Montana's opponents had 10 extra-base hits to the Grizzlies' five. Maygen McGrath had a triple, Cami Sellers had two doubles and Maddy Stensby and Brooklyn Weisgram both had one double.

* This was the second consecutive season Montana went without a home run through its first five-game tournament. The Grizzlies had at least one home run in 2015 (at New Mexico State), '16 (at UC Davis) and '17 (at Northern Iowa).

* Eight players accounted for Montana's 16 runs at the NorCal Kickoff, with 10 players contributing to the Grizzlies' 28 hits.

Upcoming: Montana will return to California next week, for the Silicon Valley Classic, co-hosted by Santa Clara and San Jose State. The Grizzlies will get repeat games against Santa Clara, Cal State Bakersfield and San Jose State, and also play Utah State and Ball State.

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Players Mentioned

Tristin Achenbach

Kylie Becker

Colleen Driscoll

Kylie Hayton

Michaela Hood

Lexi Knauss

Jessica McAlister

Maygen McGrath

Anne Mari Petrino

Cami Sellers

Maddy Stensby

McKenna Tjaden

Brooklyn Weisgram

University of Montana Athletics