Griz top Wildcats, earn Friday split

Friday, May 7

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

16-26, 8-8

Weber State

23-17, 13-3

Weber State

Montana

5/7/2021 9:19:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team opened its three-game series with Big Sky Conference-leading Weber State on Friday afternoon with a 7-6 victory over the Wildcats at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula.

Tristin Achenbach struck out eight and picked up her program-record 32nd career win. Freshman Anna Toon singled up the middle to cap a 16-pitch at-bat with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off win.

It was only Weber State's fifth loss in its last 37 games against Big Sky opponents and extended Montana's winning streak to five, its longest since the 2019 season.

The Wildcats bounced back with a 10-2 win in Game 2.

The series came two weekends after Montana's most recent games, a series sweep at Idaho State. The Grizzlies had to wait a dozen days before getting the chance to play again.

"Our team was so excited. We had the week off and knew what was sitting in front of us and what is still sitting in front of us," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "We feel like we're clicking in a lot of areas."

Montana didn't score in the bottom of the first in Game 1, but the Grizzlies loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk to set the tone. There was no sign there had been a layoff.

"I felt like we came out in attack mode and continued to scrap and battle and be gritty and tough," said Meuchel.

"We came up with some great pitches, some great defensive plays, some good hits when we needed them and played a very competitive game with them."

Weber State opened the scoring in the second on a two-run home run by Lauren Hoe, then added another run in the third to go up 3-0.

Montana finally broke through in the bottom of the third, scoring five times on five hits. Four of the runs came with two outs.

The Grizzlies went up 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Kylie Becker, who doubled in both the first and third innings and led both teams with three hits.

But Weber State was both patient and relentless. The Wildcats had at least one hit in each of the first six innings and never did go down in order. They had at least one runner on base every inning.

"They were really tough at the plate," said Achenbach, who threw 171 pitches in the complete game. "They are competitive up there. They swing at strikes and not a lot of balls, so that's hard as a pitcher."

Achenbach got out of high-stress jams in both the fourth and fifth innings. She ended the fourth inning on a bases-loaded strikeout. She ended the fifth on a bases-loaded strikeout.

"She's that good. She is the pitcher you want on the mound, because she loves to compete. She'll give you everything she's got. She had some really big pitches in some really big moments," said Meuchel.

With two outs in the top of the sixth and runners on second and third, Weber State tied the game at 6-6 on a two-run double to right-center.

Montana had a runner on third in the bottom of the sixth with one out but couldn't score the go-ahead run. That would have to wait until the seventh, after Achenbach pitched a hitless seventh.

Jaxie Klucewich drew a leadoff walk. After Kylie Becker sacrificed Klucewich to second, Maygen McGrath and Cami Sellers earned walks of their own on just nine pitches to bring Toon to the plate.

Toon watched the first two pitches. Both were strikes. Then she watched three straight balls, making the count full.

She fouled off the next 10 pitches before lining a single up the middle that plated Becker with the winning run.

"I could hear my teammates in the dugout cheering, so I really wanted to do it for them," said Toon. "My approach was just to stand tall, keep fighting and find a way to make something happen.

"It was a great feeling and an amazing team win all the way around."

In addition to Becker's 3-for-4 game, her third straight with three hits, her fourth consecutive with multiple hits, Toon and Klucewich both had a pair of hits.

Montana had 12 hits, its fifth straight game with 10 or more.

"It's a big deal to beat anybody in the Big Sky Conference," said Achenbach. "With Weber State sitting atop the conference, any chance we get to play against them and beat them is a good day."

Montana opened the scoring in Game 2, when McGrath walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single up the middle by Sellers in the bottom of the first.

The lead would be short-lived. Weber State scored three in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth to take control.

The Wildcats, who scored 10 runs on just nine hits, were aided by seven walks and three Montana errors, the most for the Grizzlies since late March, which led to four unearned runs.

"We pressed early on in Game 2 on a few things and it led into some uncharacteristic behaviors from us, and it kind of got away from us," said Meuchel.

Allie Brock got the start. She was replaced after 2 1/3 innings by Toon.

Montana was limited to six hits by Weber State freshman Amanda Sink. One of those was a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth by McGrath that extended her hitting streak to 13 games.

Only Sellers (18), Bethany Olea (17), Ashlyn Lyons (14) have had longer hitting streaks in program history.

With the split, Montana will try to become the first team since Portland State in 2018 to win a series from Weber State when the Grizzlies and Wildcats play at 1 p.m. on Saturday.