Montana
16-16, 4-2
Southern Utah
3-26, 0-6
Griz put up 19 more runs, complete the sweep
4/2/2022 3:53:00 PM | Softball
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The Grizzlies (16-16, 4-2 BSC) put up 56 runs on 51 hits while batting .486 to sweep the series and improve to 11-1 all-time against Southern Utah (3-26, 0-6 BSC) on its home field.
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"Griz Softball came to play," said coach Melanie Meuchel, whose team set a program record for runs scored and margin of victory in Friday's 23-7 win in the series opener.
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The Grizzlies came back from a six-run deficit to win 14-11 in eight innings in Game 2, then scored six in the 3rd, six in the 4th and five in the 5th on Saturday to pull away.
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Montana scored multiple runs in 10 of its 18 innings of at-bats in the series.
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"I felt like hitting was contagious," Meuchel added. "It was how fast can we get back up and hit. You can feel it with this group. It's growth every day. It was just a fun weekend."
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Montana won its fourth consecutive game and improved to 4-2 in league, its only losses one-run decisions against Portland State last weekend.
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The Grizzlies are 16-16 overall, the first time they've been .500 or better after April 1 since the program's NCAA tournament season of 2017.
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"We saw a lot of great things last weekend, and we saw it again this weekend," Meuchel said. "We didn't take anything for granted or anything off. We were just so present and played really loose."
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Montana scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the 2nd to build a lead it would never give up, then got the bats rolling the final three innings, putting up 17 more runs on 15 hits.
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Maygen McGrath led off the top of the 3rd with her ninth home run of the season, her sixth in the last nine games.
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Brooklyn Weisgram followed later in the inning with her second grand slam in as many weekends. She and Delene Colburn are now the only players in program history with multiple grand slams.
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McKenna Tjaden hit her first home run of the season, a three-run shot over the fence in left as part of Montana's six-run 4th.
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McGrath came up with the bases loaded in the top of the 5th and nearly had Montana's second grand slam of the game, hitting one off the base of the fence in center.
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It was the final at-bat of a huge weekend for McGrath, who went 8 for 13 with eight RBIs and four runs scored.
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Dana Butterfield pitched into the bottom of the fifth to pick up her seventh win of the season. Allie Brock threw 10 pitches to get the final two outs.
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Jaxie Klucewich had a team-high nine hits in the series, Julie Phelps scored eight runs, and McGrath, Cami Sellers and Elise Ontiveros all drove in eight.
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Montana will host Idaho State in a three-game series next Friday and Saturday at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Butterfield, Dana (7-7)
L: GOODRICH, P (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Jantzi, Presley 1
HR: McGrath, Maygen 1 ; Tjaden, McKenna 1 ; Weisgram, Brooklyn 1
RBI: Klucewich, Jaxie 1 ; Sellers, Cami 1 ; McGrath, Maygen 3 ; Jantzi, Presley 1 ; Mohl, Kynzie 1 ; Becker, Kylie 2 ; Phelps, Julie 1 ; Tjaden, McKenna 3 ; Ontiveros, Elise 1 ; Weisgram, Brooklyn 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Klucewich, Jaxie 1 ; Sweyer, Kelly 2 ; McGrath, Maygen 1 ; Jantzi, Presley 1 ; Mohl, Kynzie 1 ; Becker, Kylie 2 ; Phelps, Julie 3 ; Tjaden, McKenna 3 ; Ontiveros, Elise 2 ; Weisgram, Brooklyn 3
SB: Becker, Kylie 1 ; Phelps, Julie 1 ; Ontiveros, Elise 1
Batting:
2B: SEPULVEDA, J 1 ; WHETTEN, M 1
HR: SEPULVEDA, J 1 ; BOOSTEDT, A 1
RBI: SEPULVEDA, J 1 ; CALDERON, M 1 ; BOOSTEDT, A 5
Base Running:
RUNS: SEPULVEDA, J 1 ; FRANZEN, C 1 ; WHETTEN, M 2 ; WEAVER, D 2 ; CALDERON, M 1 ; BOOSTEDT, A 1
SB: CALDERON, M 1
HBP: FRANZEN, C 1 ; WHETTEN, M 1
