Griz drop two in College Station

Friday, March 12

College Station, Texas

11:30 AM (MT)

Montana

4-11

Louisiana Tech

5-8

Montana

Louisiana Tech

Photo by: KC Knoop Photography

3/12/2021 8:10:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team lost games to Louisiana Tech and the host Aggies on Friday as the Texas A&M Davis Diamond Classic opened in College Station, Texas.

The Grizzlies (4-12) lost to the Lady Techsters 6-5 in 13 innings, the longest game in program history.

Turning around and facing a then 13-3 Texas A&M team playing its first game of the day, Montana gave up five runs in the first, six more in the second and went on to lose 17-2.

Montana jumped out to a 2-0 lead in its opener, scoring runs in the first and second innings against Louisiana Tech.

Anna Toon had an RBI single in the top of the first, Kylie Becker an RBI single in the top of the second.

The Lady Techsters would tie it with a run in the second, another in the fourth off Montana starter Tristin Achenbach.

Neither team would score again until the 10th, when international rules were put into play, meaning a runner started each half inning on second base.

The teams would match run for run in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, each team opting to sacrifice the runner over with the leadoff batter each half inning.

Cami Sellers made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly in the 10th. Ashley Ward put Montana up 4-3 in the 11th with a two-out, pinch-hit single. And Jessica McAlister made it 5-4 in the 12th with a sacrifice fly.

Louisiana Tech tied it in the bottom half of each inning.

In the top of the 13th, with the score tied 5-5 and with Sellers, Maygen McGrath and Kendall Curtis due up, the Grizzlies opted to forgo the sacrifice and keep the bat in the hands of their top hitters.

The three went down in order, which put the pressure on Achenbach, who was up to 200 pitches for the game by that point.

Needing only one run to win it, Louisiana Tech went sacrifice, walk, single to pick up the walk-off victory.

It was the longest game in program history, topping Montana's 5-4, 12-inning win at North Dakota in 2016.

After scoring two runs on three hits through the first two innings, Montana had just three hits over the final 11 innings. Jaxie Klucewich had two of the Grizzlies' six hits in the game.

Achenbach ended up throwing 217 pitches, 40 more than the previous high for the program, a record set by Michaela Hood in a 2-1, 10-inning win at Weber State in the 2017 Big Sky Conference tournament.

Achenbach's previous career high was 155 pitches thrown in a 6-4, 10-inning loss at Sacramento State in 2019.

Texas A&M jumped on Montana in the day's second game, leading 11-0 after two, 14-2 after three and 17-2 after four.

The Grizzlies scored both of their runs in the top of the third, when Sellers had a double, McGrath a single and Curtis a walk to load the bases for Anna Toon, whose ground ball to the left side of the infield was thrown away for an error. Two scored on the play.

The 17 runs matched the most ever scored against the Grizzlies in their seven-year history, equaling the 17 runs put up by Arizona State in El Paso seven days earlier.

Montana was limited to three hits. McGrath, who went 0 for 6 against Louisiana Tech to snap her seven-game hitting streak, had two of them, Sellers the other.

Ashley Ward got the start for Montana. Toon and Allie Brock also threw in relief.

Montana will face Louisiana Tech at 11:30 a.m. (MT) on Saturday, Texas A&M at 4:30 p.m. (MT).