Montana falls to No. 23 Northwestern

Sunday, March 3

Palo Alto, Calif.

10:00 AM (MT)

Montana

4-16

Northwestern

14-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Montana	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Northwestern	0	0	2	1	1	0	X	4	10	0

3/3/2019 1:00:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team wrapped up play at the Stanford Invitational on Sunday with a 4-0 loss against No. 23 Northwestern.

The Grizzlies (4-16) were limited to three hits and four base runners by left-hander Danielle Williams, who improved to 10-2 with the win. The Wildcats are 14-4.

"She throws pretty hard, and she does a good job of mixing speeds," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "She can spot up pitches but can also let a pitch go that puts you on your heels. She really kind of stumped us at the plate today."

Colleen Driscoll got the start for Montana and gave up four runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. Maddy Stensby pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, striking out two. Driscoll fell to 3-4 with the loss.

Northwestern opened the scoring with a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the third. A solo home run in the fourth made it 3-0, back-to-back doubles in the fifth made it 4-0.

Cami Sellers doubled to right-center in the top of the first. Montana wouldn't collect its next hit until the sixth, when Brooklyn Weisgram singled down the leftfield line.

Morgan Johnson had a single to right-center with two outs in the top of the seventh for the Grizzlies' final hit.

Montana's lone win at the tournament came on Saturday, 4-2 over Cal Poly. In addition to losing to Northwestern on Sunday, the Grizzlies lost twice to Stanford and dropped a tight game to North Dakota State.

"We knew coming into this tournament that we would face very high-quality opponents who would challenge us," said Meuchel.

"I felt at times we were good and at times we showed how our lack of outside practice opportunities can catch up to us. We don't always have a flow to our game right now. But our players are grinding to do things well, to do things right, to make plays."

Montana will wrap up its early-season tournament schedule next weekend with five games against UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Cal Baptist and North Dakota at the Bulldog Classic in Fresno.