Montana splits as Meuchel reaches 100

Friday, April 29

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

18-24, 5-10

Northern Colorado

19-26, 7-6

Northern Colorado

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/UM Athletics

4/29/2022 10:18:00 PM | Softball

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By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team split a doubleheader with Northern Colorado on Friday afternoon at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula as the teams opened their three-game series.

The Bears (19-27, 7-7 BSC) rallied from a 6-4 deficit in Game 1, scoring seven unanswered runs over the final three innings to win 11-6.

In Game 2, first-inning home runs by Maygen McGrath and Cami Sellers put the Grizzlies (19-24, 6-10 BSC) up early and propelled them to an 8-4 win.

The victory gave fifth-year coach Melanie Meuchel career win No. 100. She is only the fourth coach in Big Sky Conference softball history to reach that milestone.

"You need to be surrounded by players, staff, managers, athletic trainers, administrators, people who put so much into this program and these student-athletes," said Meuchel.

"To be surrounded by that and knowing that every day is worth what we're doing and the opportunity to be out here with these amazing student-athletes, that's what it means to me."

The victory in Game 2 came after Montana gave up 11 runs on 15 hits in the opener, a game delayed nearly 30 minutes in the early innings by a burst of rain.

The Grizzlies scored four runs in the bottom of the second on just two singles to go up 4-3. The Bears had two errors in the inning and both walked and hit a batter.

Five of the six runs Northern Colorado's pitchers allowed in Game 1 were unearned, nine of the 14 runs they allowed in the doubleheader were unearned.

Montana went up 5-4 in the third on a throwing error by UNC's pitcher, one of three errors in the game for the Bears, one of five in the doubleheader.

The Grizzlies made it 6-4 in the fourth on a single to left-center by Elise Ontiveros, who went 5 for 7 in the doubleheader and is now batting .400 since becoming a starter back on March 11.

But Montana would only have two hits over the final three innings as Northern Colorado rallied for the victory.

The Bears put up four runs on three hits in the fifth, including a double and a triple, then added three more runs on three hits in the sixth, with a leadoff home run.

Montana had no answer, then tried to find one during a lengthy team meeting in right field between games.

"I didn't think we were ourselves, and that was the frustrating thing. These ladies practice so hard throughout the week, watching us not be ourselves was the frustration," said Meuchel.

"That was a lot of our talk between games. Who are we? Who do we want to be? When we know that and act like that and bring that, we can control what we're doing and it gives us the best chance."

Montana held Northern Colorado hitless in the top of the first in Game 2, then used long balls by McGrath and Sellers in the bottom half of the inning to set the tone.

"I felt like we came together between games and committed to being a certain way, demanding that we were going to do something," said Meuchel.

"You could feel it from the group as soon as we broke from our huddle between games. You could feel it."

McGrath's home run was a no-doubter over the fence in right-center. Her arms were spread wide as she rounded first base.

It's not every day a player overtakes Griz legend Delene Colburn in the record book, but McGrath's home run was her 15th of the season, setting a program record, topping Colburn's 14 from 2017.

"Just great presence from Maygen," said Meuchel. "I think it just released her excitement for what she's accomplished for herself, her teammates and for this program. That really set the tone."

Four pitches later, Sellers sent one over the fence in right. "Cami on the back side stayed on the gas pedal. It felt like, okay, here we are," said Meuchel.

Montana added four more in the second, including two on a double by Kendall Curtis, her first extra-base hit since March 5 after missing more than a month with an injury.

The Grizzlies went up 7-2 in the third on an RBI single by Jaxie Klucewich, 8-2 in the fifth on a Sellers sacrifice fly.

That was plenty for Dana Butterfield, who threw a complete game to pick up win No. 10 on the season. She is just the fifth pitcher in program history to reach 10 wins in a season.

"I think she brought a lot of confidence to the mound," said Meuchel. "I think she was just steady."

She also had plenty of help from her friends, center fielder Julie Phelps in particular, who made a pair of nice catches and threw out a runner at the plate to end the sixth.

"Dana attacked the plate and our defense was awesome behind her," said Meuchel. "We worked collectively to accomplish what we wanted."

McGrath had two hits to up her season average to .397, and Ontiveros and Klucewich both went 2 for 3.

The teams will play the series finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day, an occasion that brings with it a delicate balancing act.

Few teams bring the emotions like the Grizzlies do on Senior Day, and no team wants to close out its regular season with a win more than Montana.

The goal will be to pull off both.

"We'll work through each stage tomorrow and just play with a lot of heart and hopefully share our hearts with our seniors, because that's what they've done for this program," said Meuchel.

"We're excited to celebrate this class and all their hard work they've put in. We'll enjoy the pregame things we do, then we will play with that attitude and play for this class."