Grizzlies to face first-place Wildcats

The Montana softball team will get its shot at first-place Weber State this week when the teams play a three-game series at Wildcat Softball Field in Ogden, Utah.

The Grizzlies (17-18, 5-4 BSC) and Wildcats (28-8, 6-0 BSC) will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m., a single game on Saturday at noon.

Weber State will enter the series on a six-game winning streak, all in league, and a national ranking of 58 in the latest NCAA RPI. Montana has an RPI of 195.

Montana will host Carroll next Tuesday at 3 p.m. in a single game before playing a three-game series at Sacramento State, the team tied for second behind Weber State.

The Grizzlies will close out their regular-season schedule with a home series against Northern Colorado on April 29-30.

The six-team Big Sky Conference tournament will open on Wednesday, May 11, in Ogden.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies, coming off a three-game sweep of Southern Utah in Cedar City, went 1-2 at home last weekend against Idaho State.

The Bengals swept Friday's doubleheader by scores of 7-6 and 10-1. The Grizzlies bounced back in Saturday's finale, winning 10-1 in six innings on a walk-off home run by Kylie Becker.

Dana Butterfield threw a complete-game three-hitter on Saturday against a team that put up 17 runs on 26 hits in two games on Friday.

Becker, Maygen McGrath and Elise Ontiveros all had four hits in the series, with Becker tying for the team lead with three RBIs and three runs scored.

The Grizzlies are 8-4 over their last 12 games. Four of their last five losses have been by a single run.

At a glance (Weber State): The Wildcats will roll into this week's series against Montana on a six-game winning streak and with an overall record of 28-8 and an RPI of 58.

Weber State is two wins from 30, which would be the fourth time in program history the Wildcats will have reached that standard. It's only been done eight times in Big Sky history, which dates back to 2013.

Weber State is coming off a three-game throttling of Southern Utah in Ogden. The Wildcats swept the Thunderbirds by a total score of 25-0, winning 11-0, 6-0 and 8-0.

The Southern Utah team that scored 26 runs against Montana the weekend before had just seven hits in three games against Weber State, going 7 for 57 (.123).

Weber State used three different starters in the series: Arissa Henderson (10-1, 2.02 ERA), Mariah Ramirez (9-7, 3.60 ERA) and Amanda Sink (8-0, 3.22 ERA).

The Wildcats lead the Big Sky in ERA (2.97) and fielding percentage (.976), and rank second behind only Sacramento State in batting average (.291).

The Wildcats are 5-0 at home this season, with their sweep of Southern Utah and single-game wins over Utah Valley and Utah.

Series history:

* Weber State leads the all-time series against Montana 15-9 and is 8-4 against the Grizzlies in Ogden with three straight wins.

* The teams last played in Ogden in 2019. The Wildcats swept the Grizzlies by scores of 5-0, 5-2 and 2-1 in eight innings.

* In last year's series in Missoula, Weber State won two of three. After the Grizzlies won the opener 7-6, the Wildcats put up 21 runs over the final two games, winning 10-2 and 11-5.

Summary:

Weber State is putting together one of the best seasons in Big Sky Conference history, a season that had a 12-game winning streak that UCLA finally snapped in early March.

And now the Wildcats are off to an unbeaten start to their Big Sky schedule.

It's a team that is solid in its pitching, its hitting and its defense, which has led to a remarkable 11-3 record in games decided by two or fewer runs.

A team does not need to be perfect to defeat the Wildcats, but there is not a lot of room for error. Weber State does not allow for it.

"They are solid in every aspect," said Montana coach Melanie Meuchel. "They have had a successful year, through nonconference and the beginning of conference.

"If we can be ourselves and pay attention to the details, play loose, play free, play confident, I know Griz Softball will be excited for the challenge. I can't wait to go into Ogden with this team."

A week ago, Montana was rolling along with a 4-2 league record and preparing to face Idaho State in Missoula.

Then along came Friday, when the Grizzlies lost 7-6 in a game they left 13 runners on base, at least one every inning. That flowed into a disappointing 10-1 loss with Montana getting outhit 16-4.

"It was definitely a learning point for all of us. It's something we learned from and will put in our pockets," said Meuchel.

"It has made us better. I think it will lead us into an even stronger team come May."

In the somber aftermath of Game 2, after Montana had been run-ruled on its home field for just the third time by a Big Sky opponent, Meuchel said her team would respond on Saturday.

Did it ever.

Butterfield needed just 79 pitches for a six-inning complete game and eight of Montana's nine starters in the batting order had at least one hit.

"Our response showed the toughness of this team and our ability to make adjustments," said Meuchel. "They're competitors. They want to excel and are willing to push forward through those tough times."

After hosting Carroll in a single game on Tuesday, Montana will get right back to it, facing Sacramento State next week on the road.

The Grizzlies have gone just 6-18 against the Hornets in their history, their lowest winning percentage against a league opponent. Montana is just 2-8 against Sacramento State at Shea Stadium.

"We can look at the two weeks sitting in front of us and lose sight of who we are and what we're trying to do," said Meuchel.

"One thing we can control is our first game against Weber State on Friday. It will be one game at a time, one pitch, one inning and just focus on what we can control and embrace the challenge."

Montana notes:

* The Grizzlies are above .500 at 12-11 in games away from home this season.

* Montana batted .321 in three games against Idaho State to up its season average to .290, just behind Big Sky leader Sacramento State (.295).

* Maygen McGrath went 4 for 9 with three walks against the Bengals and is now batting .364, which ranks fifth in the Big Sky.

* Presley Jantzi (.359) and Julie Phelps (.354), at No. 7 and No. 10, also rank in the top 10 in the Big Sky in batting average.

* Maygen McGrath hit her 10th home run of the season in Game 1 against Idaho State. She is tied for third in the Big Sky with Weber State slugger Chloe Camarero.

* McGrath pulled within four of Delene Colburn's single-season record of 14, set in 2017. McGrath has 35 career home runs, second in program history behind only Colburn's 45.

* Fifth-year coach Melanie Meuchel picked up career win No. 98 on Saturday against Idaho State.

* When she gets to 100 wins, she'll join Mary Kay Amicone (Weber State), Lori Perez (Sacramento State) and Shana Easley (Northern Colorado) in the Big Sky's 100-win club.

* Kylie Becker's walk-off home run against Idaho State on Saturday was her first home run of the season, the fifth of her career.

* Becker's blast into a strong wind was Montana's first walk-off home run since Cami Sellers did it last April against Carroll.

* Allie Brock has nine wins, Dana Butterfield has eight. Montana has never had a season with two pitchers reaching 10 wins.

* Butterfield's 10 complete games are the fourth-most in a season in program history.

* Kylie Becker is on a four-game hitting streak and has hit safely in seven of Montana's last eight games to up her batting average from .175 to .229.

* Maygen McGrath's home run in Game 1 against Idaho State was her seventh in 10 games.

* Elise Ontiveros is hitting .368 since becoming a full-time starter in left on March 11.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Weber State, which closes the regular season against Sacramento State at home and Portland State on the road, sits atop the Big Sky standings at 6-0.

* Sacramento State, off from league games last weekend, and Northern Colorado, which went 1-2 at Portland State, are 4-2.

* Portland State and Montana follow at 5-4, Idaho State at 3-6.

* Southern Utah is 3-29 overall this season, 0-9 in league. The Thunderbirds have been outscored this season 285-67.

This week's series: Montana at Weber State, Sacramento State at Northern Colorado, Southern Utah at Portland State.

Upcoming: Montana will host Carroll (12-24) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Grizzly Softball Field.

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Players Mentioned

Kylie Becker

Allie Brock

Dana Butterfield

Presley Jantzi

Maygen McGrath

Elise Ontiveros

Julie Phelps

Cami Sellers

University of Montana Athletics