Friday, February 11
Sacramento, Calif.
10 AM (MT)
Montana
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3
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San Jose State
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6
7
R
H
E
Montana
0
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7
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San Jose State
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4
2
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Griz earn opening-day split
2/11/2022 4:59:00 PM | Softball
The Montana softball team shut out San Jose State and lost in extra innings to Saint Mary's on Friday as the Nor Cal Kickoff opened at Sacramento, Calif.
The Grizzlies, behind the pitching of Allie Brock, four-hit the Spartans in their opener to win 3-0.
In its second game of the day, Montana lost 2-1 to Saint Mary's in eight innings in a game that was scoreless through seven.
In her collegiate debut, Dana Butterfield went the distance, allowing one earned run.
Brock and Butterfield combined to throw 15.0 innings, allowing 10 hits and just one earned run while striking out 10 and walking two.
"I thought they controlled counts and settled in to who they are as pitchers and attacked the zone," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "They had very focused and very competitive pitches."
With the opener scoreless, San Jose State had two hits and a walk off Brock to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the second.
Brock responded with three straight swinging strikeouts to get out of the jam. She would retire 18 of the final 19 batters she faced to record her second career shutout.
"She stepped up and made big pitches and really showed who she is and really controlled the game," said Meuchel, whose team played 15 innings of error-free softball on Friday.
"Our defense was phenomenal behind her as well. Our outfield made big plays and our defense made big plays. That allowed our pitchers to settle in and continue to pound the zone."
Montana went hitless through three innings but struck for two runs on three hits in the fourth.
Julie Phelps had a two-out double to drive in Maygen McGrath and open the scoring. Kelly Sweyer later scored on a throwing error.
Montana made it 3-0 in the top of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Kylie Becker that scored Phelps.
Phelps and Cami Sellers both had two hits in the game.
The later game would turn into a pitchers' battle between Montana's freshman and Saint Mary's senior Sofia Earle. Both put up zeroes through the first seven innings while allowing eight combined hits.
"I thought Dana in her opening was excellent," said Meuchel. "She was rock solid in her emotions and her control. And we made plays behind her that helped her out."
With a runner placed on second to start the top of the eighth, Saint Mary's scored the game's first run on an RBI triple. A foul out to left made it 2-0.
Starting the bottom of the eighth with Elise Ontiveros on second, Montana had a fly out and line out before Sellers came through with an RBI double to right center.
McGrath put runners on the corners when she reached on an infield single, but the Grizzlies came up short with a game-ending fielder's choice.
Earle allowed four hits and no earned runs while striking out seven. She threw 112 pitches.
Butterfield needed just 84 pitches. She allowed six hits and one earned run while walking just one and striking out four.
"It was a pretty efficient game. Saint Mary's was aggressive at the plate and struck a lot of balls early in counts, and our defense made some great plays behind her," said Meuchel.
Sellers had two of Montana's four hits in the loss.
Montana will play Saint Mary's again on Saturday at 10 a.m. (MT) at UC Davis, then play the Aggies at 3 p.m. (MT).
The Grizzlies, behind the pitching of Allie Brock, four-hit the Spartans in their opener to win 3-0.
In its second game of the day, Montana lost 2-1 to Saint Mary's in eight innings in a game that was scoreless through seven.
In her collegiate debut, Dana Butterfield went the distance, allowing one earned run.
Brock and Butterfield combined to throw 15.0 innings, allowing 10 hits and just one earned run while striking out 10 and walking two.
"I thought they controlled counts and settled in to who they are as pitchers and attacked the zone," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "They had very focused and very competitive pitches."
With the opener scoreless, San Jose State had two hits and a walk off Brock to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the second.
Brock responded with three straight swinging strikeouts to get out of the jam. She would retire 18 of the final 19 batters she faced to record her second career shutout.
"She stepped up and made big pitches and really showed who she is and really controlled the game," said Meuchel, whose team played 15 innings of error-free softball on Friday.
"Our defense was phenomenal behind her as well. Our outfield made big plays and our defense made big plays. That allowed our pitchers to settle in and continue to pound the zone."
Montana went hitless through three innings but struck for two runs on three hits in the fourth.
Julie Phelps had a two-out double to drive in Maygen McGrath and open the scoring. Kelly Sweyer later scored on a throwing error.
Montana made it 3-0 in the top of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Kylie Becker that scored Phelps.
Phelps and Cami Sellers both had two hits in the game.
The later game would turn into a pitchers' battle between Montana's freshman and Saint Mary's senior Sofia Earle. Both put up zeroes through the first seven innings while allowing eight combined hits.
"I thought Dana in her opening was excellent," said Meuchel. "She was rock solid in her emotions and her control. And we made plays behind her that helped her out."
With a runner placed on second to start the top of the eighth, Saint Mary's scored the game's first run on an RBI triple. A foul out to left made it 2-0.
Starting the bottom of the eighth with Elise Ontiveros on second, Montana had a fly out and line out before Sellers came through with an RBI double to right center.
McGrath put runners on the corners when she reached on an infield single, but the Grizzlies came up short with a game-ending fielder's choice.
Earle allowed four hits and no earned runs while striking out seven. She threw 112 pitches.
Butterfield needed just 84 pitches. She allowed six hits and one earned run while walking just one and striking out four.
"It was a pretty efficient game. Saint Mary's was aggressive at the plate and struck a lot of balls early in counts, and our defense made some great plays behind her," said Meuchel.
Sellers had two of Montana's four hits in the loss.
Montana will play Saint Mary's again on Saturday at 10 a.m. (MT) at UC Davis, then play the Aggies at 3 p.m. (MT).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brock, Allie (1-0)
L: Bowman (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Sellers, Cami 1 ; Phelps, Julie 1
RBI: Becker, Kylie 1 ; Phelps, Julie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McGrath, Maygen 1 ; Sweyer, Kelly 1 ; Phelps, Julie 1
CS: Curtis, Kendall 1
HBP: Weisgram, Brooklyn 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballINF
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