Griz return to league, face Hornets

The Montana softball team, which hosted and defeated Carroll at Grizzly Softball Field on Tuesday, will resume its Big Sky Conference schedule this weekend when it plays a three-game series at Sacramento State.

The Grizzlies (18-20, 5-6 BSC) and Hornets (22-20, 6-3 BSC) will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 1 p.m. (MT) at Sacramento State's Shea Stadium, a single game at 1 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.

Montana will conclude its regular-season schedule with a home series against Northern Colorado next week in Missoula before traveling to Ogden, Utah, the second week of May for the six-team Big Sky tournament.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies have dropped three of their four Big Sky series to date, with Sacramento State and Northern Colorado still on the schedule.

Montana lost two of three at home to both Portland State and Idaho State, swept a series at Southern Utah and went 0-2 on Saturday at Weber State in a weather-shortened series.

The Grizzlies took a break from their league schedule to host Carroll on Tuesday afternoon and needed five home runs, which tied a program record, to rally for a 9-7 victory over the Saints.

Montana trailed 7-5 entering the bottom of the fifth when it got a game-tying two-run home run from Elise Ontiveros, her first career home run.

Maygen McGrath concluded a four-hit day when she led off the bottom of the sixth with the game-winning hit, a solo home run. Presley Jantzi followed with her own solo home run to make it 9-7.

Dana Butterfield picked up win No. 9 of the season in relief.

McGrath went 4 for 4 to up her season batting average to .397. She ranks in the top three in the Big Sky in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, RBIs and home runs.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets, picked third in the preseason coaches' poll, have built their 6-3 league record by going 2-1 against Idaho State on the road, Portland State at home and Northern Colorado on the road.

After hosting Montana this weekend, Sacramento State plays a series at Weber State next week before concluding its regular season hosting Southern Utah.

The Hornets also took a break from their league schedule on Tuesday when they hosted Stanford at Shea Stadium. The Cardinal swept the doubleheader, winning 4-2 and 5-0.

Sacramento State ranks third in the Big Sky in both batting average (.293) and ERA (3.59).

The Hornets have some of the Big Sky's top hitters. Freshman Caroline Evans is batting .400. Lexie Webb, a transfer from Fresno State, leads the league in home runs with 15, and Lewa Day is batting .351 with 11 home runs.

Junior pitcher Marissa Bertuccio, second-team All-Big Sky last season, has appeared in 28 of 42 games this season and has a 2.10 ERA. She has made 22 starts and has 15 wins.

Series history:

* Sacramento State leads the series with Montana 18-6 and owns the best winning percentage against the Grizzlies by a Big Sky team.

* Montana is 2-8 against Sacramento State at Shea Stadium, its lone wins both by 3-2 scores back in 2017.

* The Grizzlies defeated the Hornets twice at last year's Big Sky tournament, which snapped a 10-game losing streak against Sacramento State.

* Montana's most recent trips to Shea Stadium to face league opponents came in 2019. The Grizzlies went 0-3 during the regular season, then lost 8-2 to the Hornets on their home field in the Big Sky tournament.

Montana notes:

* The Grizzlies, at .296, have taken over the Big Sky Conference lead in batting average. Montana's average has gone from .261 to .296 over the last nine games.

* On the pitching side, Montana's current ERA of 4.54 is the highest it's been this season. The Grizzlies have allowed five or more earned runs in seven of their last nine games. Prior to that it was five or more earned runs in seven of their first 29 games of the season.

* Montana is 2-1 at Shea Stadium this season. The Grizzlies opened the season playing three of their five games at the Nor Cal Kickoff on Sacramento State's home field. They defeated San Jose State and Santa Clara, lost to Saint Mary's.

* It was at that tournament that Maygen McGrath opened the season 1 for 16. Since then she has batted .448, going 47 for 105.

* Montana's next win will be No. 100 for coach Melanie Meuchel, who is 99-123 in her fifth year. She'll be the fourth coach in Big Sky history to reach 100 wins.

* Montana's five home runs in Tuesday's win over Carroll matched a program record set in a 9-1 win over Jackson State in February 2020 in Metairie, La., at the Big Easy Classic.

* Maygen McGrath and Cami Sellers homered in both record-setting performances, against Jackson State two years ago and against Carroll on Tuesday.

* Seven of Maygen McGrath's 13 home runs this season have either broken a tie or pulled Montana even after facing a deficit.

* McGrath's four-hit game on Tuesday against Carroll was the second of her career, the third for a Montana player this season and the 22nd time in program history a player has had four or more.

* McGrath's 56 multiple-hit games in her career rank second in program history behind Delene Colburn's 67.

* Elise Ontiveros hit her first collegiate home run on Tuesday against Carroll, Presley Jantzi her second.

* McGrath's home run on Tuesday was No. 13 of the season, bringing her within one of Delene Colburn's program record of 14, set in 2017. McGrath ended last season with 13.

* Allie Brock (9-11) and Dana Butterfield (9-9) both are sitting on nine wins. Montana has had a pitcher win 10 or more games just four times in its history.

* With two more hits, McGrath (187) will move past Bethany Olea (188) and into second place on the Montana career list. Delene Colburn had 254.

* Cami Sellers has three multiple-hit games in Montana's last four with eight RBIs. … Kylie Becker has hit safely in nine of Montana's last 11 games. … Maygen McGrath has six multiple-hit games in Montana's last nine, five of them with three or more hits.

* Cami Sellers had her 50th career multiple-hit and 30th career multiple-RBI game on Tuesday against Carroll.

* Brooklyn Weisgram has upped her batting average from .231 to .280 the last 10 games when she's gone 11 for 28.

* Presley Jantzi has hit safely in 16 of the last 19 games she's played.

* Montana is batting .346 through 11 league games. … The Grizzlies have pounded out 10 or more hits in seven of their last nine games.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Weber State built its league record to 8-0 with a doubleheader sweep of Montana on Saturday and reached 30 wins in just 38 games.

* Portland State moved into second in the standings at 8-4 with a home sweep of Southern Utah. The Vikings outscored the Thunderbirds 16-2 to run their league winning streak to five.

* Behind third-place Sacramento State sit Northern Colorado (5-4 BSC), Montana (5-6) and Idaho State (3-6).

* Southern Utah is 0-12 in league and closes with a home series against Idaho State and a road series at Sacramento State. The Thunderbirds, who have not won since March 13, are 3-32 overall and on a 15-game losing streak, with two or fewer runs scored in 11 of those 15 games.

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

Upcoming: Montana closes out the regular season with a series against Northern Colorado at Grizzly Softball Field on Friday and Saturday, April 29-30.

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Players Mentioned

Kylie Becker

Allie Brock

Dana Butterfield

Presley Jantzi

Maygen McGrath

Elise Ontiveros

Cami Sellers

Brooklyn Weisgram

University of Montana Athletics