Griz sweep, Achenbach breaks wins record

Sunday, April 25

Pocatello, Idaho

Noon

Montana

15-26, 7-8

Idaho State

7-24, 1-11

Montana

Idaho State

4/25/2021 6:37:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana finished off a series sweep of Idaho State on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over the Bengals at Miller Ranch Stadium in Pocatello.

The Grizzlies, who have won four straight and six of eight, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, and Tristin Achenbach ensured those runs held up with the 26th complete game of her career.

Achenbach picked up the win in all three games in the series and now has 31 for her career. That breaks the program record of 30 set by Michaela Hood (2017-20).

Achenbach got the win in Game 1 on Saturday but gave up 10 earned runs in five innings of work as Montana outscored Idaho State 19-15.

She threw 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief in Game 2 on Saturday as the Grizzlies rallied for an 8-7 win. She carried that into Sunday, allowing just five hits, all singles.

"She threw with some good command today," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "She made them swing at things she wanted them to swing at and got some outs. I was really proud of her effort today."

Montana scored early and often on Sunday, going up 2-0 in the first on RBI singles by Cami Sellers and Jessica McAlister.

Sellers' RBI single scored Kylie Becker, who led off the game with a triple, the first three-bagger for Montana this season.

The Grizzlies went up 4-0 in the top of the third when Riley Stockton, who got the start at catcher, hit a double into the gap in right-center that scored two.

Achenbach didn't allow a hit through the first three innings and didn't give up a run until the fourth. The Bengals added another in the sixth.

She was aided by a defense that made a number of highlight-worthy plays, none more so than Julie Phelps' diving catch of a line drive hit straight toward her in center, an incredibly difficult play to make.

Montana could have put the game out of reach on a number of occasions but left 14 runners on base for the game.

The Grizzlies left the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth innings, two on in the sixth and seventh.

The fifth inning ended when Maygen McGrath, up with two outs and the bases loaded, smoked a line drive that was struck so well that Lexi Knauss, on her way to third, couldn't get out of the way.

She got hit by the ball. Inning over.

"We had a few small plays get away from us. I say that, then I say, keep hitting the ball like that, Maygen," said Meuchel. "Offensively we swung the bats really well this weekend.

"We know we left some out there. We'd love to jump on every opportunity, but I'm proud of the way our team played with a lot of confidence to finish it out."

Achenbach gave up two, two-out singles in the bottom of the seventh, which brought the potential tying run to the plate, but she ended it with a line-drive out to McGrath at short.

Montana batted .425 for the series while striking out just six times in 106 at-bats. McGrath and Becker both had eight hits in three games. McGrath extended her hitting streak to 11 games.

Becker went 3 for 4 on Sunday. McGrath, Sellers, McAlister, Stockton and Anna Toon, who is 10 for her last 16, all had two hits. Both of Stockton's hits on Sunday were doubles.

The Grizzlies, who opened league with three wins at Portland State, picked up their second Big Sky road sweep of the season.

"I'm really proud of the effort and the confidence that our players showed, really from Pitch 1," said Meuchel. "We played hard and played with a lot of grit and toughness.

"I feel like for the last few weeks, every single person has worked very hard to put ourselves in the best situation possible to get wins."

If there is any bad news it's that Montana has its off week from league games next weekend, right when the Grizzlies are getting on a roll.

Montana won't play its next games until it hosts Weber State at Grizzly Softball Field on Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8.

"We'll go strong into finals this week, get a little bit of recovery, but stay with the pace and the plan and the focus we've had the last few weeks," said Meuchel.