Griz take winning streak into home series

The Montana softball team, winner of four straight and seven of nine, will play its third Big Sky Conference series this week when it hosts Idaho State at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula.

The Grizzlies (16-16, 4-2 BSC) and Bengals (17-19, 1-5 BSC) will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m., a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Montana concluded its series against Portland State two weekends ago with a victory, then swept Southern Utah last weekend, outscoring the Thunderbirds 56-26 on their home field.

After hosting Idaho State, the Grizzlies will play back-to-back road series at Weber State and Sacramento State before wrapping up the regular season at home against Northern Colorado the final weekend of April.

Montana will break up its series at Weber State and Sacramento State with a home game against Carroll on Tuesday, April 19.

Coverage: All three games this week will be streamed on ESPN+. Paul Yarbrough will call the Friday doubleheader, Riley Corcoran will be on the microphone for Saturday's game.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies are coming off a record-setting weekend at Southern Utah, where they outscored the Thunderbirds 56-26 in a three-game sweep.

It was the second time in program history Montana scored 10 or more runs in three consecutive games, the first time when the opponent was a Division I team.

The Grizzlies batted .486 in the series and used 28 walks over three games to post a hard-to-believe .580 on-base percentage.

G1: Montana 23, Southern Utah 7 – The Grizzlies scored eight runs in the top of the 1st and never looked back. They added four in the 2nd, one in the 3rd, then exploded for 10 runs in the 4th to match a program record for runs in an inning.

Southern Utah pitchers walked 16 batters to go along with Montana's 17 hits. Thunderbird pitchers threw 205 pitches in the five-inning game.

Montana set program and Big Sky records for runs, RBIs (22) and walks, and set a new program record for margin of victory.

G2: Montana 14, Southern Utah 11 (8 innings) – The Grizzlies trailed 2-1 after five innings and 9-3 after six, then scored eight runs on six hits in the top of the 7th, a rally highlighted by Presley Jantzi's first career home run, a three-run shot that came with two outs and put Montana on top 11-9.

Montana scored three runs in the top of the 8th to pull away for good. The six-run deficit was the third-largest comeback in program history.

G3: Montana 19, Southern Utah 8 – The Grizzlies led 2-0 after two innings, then put up six, six and five runs over the final three innings to pick up their second run-rule victory of the series.

Over the series' 18 innings, Montana put up multiple runs in 10 of them and went down in order just once. The Grizzlies forced Thunderbird pitchers to throw 525 pitches over the three games, an average of nearly 30 per inning.

Jaxie Klucewich, who made 17 plate appearances in three games, had nine hits, Maygen McGrath, Elise Ontiveros and Cami Sellers each drove in eight runs, and Julie Phelps scored eight times.

Allie Brock picked up two wins, one as a starter, once in relief. Dana Butterfield got the win in Game 3.

At a glance (Idaho State): The Bengals finished seventh and last in the Big Sky last spring and was the one Big Sky team to miss the six-team tournament. Cristal Brown stepped down as head coach in May after leading the Bengals for two seasons.

In July, Andrew Rich, formerly the associate head coach at Boise State, took over the program.

The Bengals entered Big Sky play with an impressive 16-14 record and has opened league 1-5, going 1-2 against Sacramento State and 0-3 against Weber State, both series in Pocatello.

Idaho State closed its series against the Hornets with a 10-0 win, then played three close games against preseason favorite Weber State last week.

The Wildcats swept Friday's doubleheader, winning 4-2 and 5-4. On Saturday, Idaho State led 9-4 after four innings, but Weber State scored five in the 5th and eight in the 6th to rally for the sweep.

Idaho State ranks third in the Big Sky in batting (.285), fourth in ERA (3.84).

Senior Rheanne Lewis leads the Big Sky in hits (49), runs (36) and stolen bases (17). Junior Angelica Cano leads the league in RBIs (35).

Series history:

* Montana leads the all-time series with Idaho State 12-8 and has won the teams' last four matchups and eight of the last 10.

* Montana is 4-5 at Grizzly Softball Field against Idaho State, with the Bengals winning two of three in both 2015 and '19. Montana won two of three in 2017, its only series win at home over ISU.

* The teams played a three-game series in Pocatello last spring, which Montana swept by scores of 19-15, 8-7 and 4-2. The 19 runs in Game 1 set a new program record for runs in a game. It held up until Friday in Cedar City.

Summary:

It was a case of extremes the last two weekends, as Montana played a tight series in Missoula against Portland State, with three games each decided by one run, then last weekend when the Grizzlies outscored the Thunderbirds by 30 runs over three games.

Montana batted .217 in three games against the Vikings, .486 against the Thunderbirds.

"They are two totally different games, but the intensity, the excitement, the want, the drive, the will was all the same throughout the six games," said coach Melanie Meuchel.

"I'm very pleased with the way we've played the last six games. I feel like we've been thorough in who we want to be and the direction we want to go. I absolutely love the way we're competing right now."

Next up is Idaho State, a team that was picked last in the preseason polls but has been playing more like a contender under a first-year coach.

"Andrew has done a good job in his first year coming in and setting a standard for Idaho State," said Meuchel.

"We saw them last year and felt they swung the bat very aggressively. They have athletes. We'll play with the drive and the belief and the understanding of who we are but also understand what we'll be up against as well."

Idaho State will face a top of Montana's order that is rolling. Jaxie Klucewich (.563), Cami Sellers (.556), Maygen McGrath (.615) and Presley Jantzi (.500), the Grizzlies' 1-4 hitters, all had big series at Southern Utah.

Klucewich, the team's leadoff hitter, was especially dangerous in Cedar City. She went 9 for 16 with a walk and scored seven runs. Because of errors she forced with her speed, the Thunderbirds only got her out four times in three games.

"She did everything she practices every day, whether it's the short game or punching a ball through the infield or trying to drive a ball," said Meuchel.

"She really opened her full game and made it really tough to defend her. She was a true table-setter and allowed other players in our lineup to be able to excel because of what she was doing."

Another player coming off a big road trip is Elise Ontiveros, who played sparingly last season and was mostly a reserve player through the opening month of this season.

An injury to Kendall Curtis forced Klucewich to move from left field to second base, and that opened a starting spot for Ontiveros. And she's taken advantage of it.

She has hit safely in eight of the 11 starts she has made since March 11 and last weekend went 5 for 11 with eight RBIs and six runs scored while batting in the No. 8 spot.

"When she wasn't playing, she pushed every envelope to be in the lineup, whether it was her former role or at practice. Just everything she does shows she's a competitor," said Meuchel.

"To watch her excel and run with the role she is in right now is so fun to watch. She's been very good, very consistent and it settling into the offensive side of her game. I love watching her play."

Montana notes:

* Maygen McGrath was named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday for the second time this season, the fifth time in her career. She went 8 for 13 against Southern Utah with eight RBIs and four runs scored.

* Montana entered its series at Southern Utah with a team batting average of .261. It left Cedar City three games later with an average of .288. The Grizzlies now rank second in the Big Sky behind only Sacramento State (.295).

* McKenna Tjaden was almost impossible for Southern Utah to contain last week. In two starts, she went 4 for 5 with three walks. She totaled five RBIs and five runs. One of those four hits was her first home run of the season.

* In 140 plate appearances at Southern Utah, Montana struck out just eight times and had nearly as many home runs with seven.

* Presley Jantzi upped her batting average to .383 last week. She ranks third in the Big Sky. Jantzi is tied for the league lead in doubles with 10.

* Maygen McGrath has six home runs the last nine games and is tied for fourth in the Big Sky with nine. The Montana single-season record is 14, set by Delene Colburn in 2017. McGrath approached that record last season with 13.

* With her next win, Allie Brock will reach 10, a standard only reached four other times in program history: Michaela Hood (18 in 2017), Tristin Achenbach (15 last season), Sara Stephenson (14 in 2016) and Colleen Driscoll (10 in 2019).

* Melanie Meuchel (97-119) has won 97 games as Montana's head coach and could reach No. 100 this weekend.

* Brooklyn Weisgram hit her second grand slam in seven days when she knocked one out with the bases loaded on Saturday at Southern Utah. She and Delene Colburn are the only players in program history with two grand slams in their careers.

* Montana has hit three grand slams this season, one shy of the program record of four set in 2021.

* Both of Maygen McGrath's home runs at Southern Utah came on 0-2 pitches. Her last three home runs have come with two strikes.

* Jaxie Klucewich went 4 for 5 in Game 1 at Southern Utah. It was Montana's second four-hit game of the season, the 21st time in program history a player has had four or more.

* Julie Phelps matched a program record with four runs scored in Game 1. It had been done only three other times, twice by Sydney Stites, once by MaKenna McGill.

* Cami Sellers drove in five runs in Game 1 at Southern Utah. It was the ninth time in program history someone has driven in five runs or more.

* Montana's win in Game 2, when it was 9-3 going into the 7th inning, was its first win in 12 games this season when trailing after six innings.

* At 16-16, Montana has a record of .500 or better in April for the first time since its NCAA tournament season of 2017.

* Cami Sellers is on a season-high five-game hitting streak. … Maygen McGrath has had multiple hits in six of the last nine games. … McKenna Tjaden had her first two multiple-hit games of the season at Cedar City.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Weber State and Northern Colorado lead the league at 3-0. They were the first two teams to have a weekend off from league games. Sacramento State is off the schedule this weekend.

* Montana and Sacramento State both trail at 4-2. The Hornets won two of three at Idaho State two weekends ago, two of three at home against Portland State last weekend. The Vikings are 3-3.

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

Upcoming: Montana will play a series at preseason favorite Weber State next week.

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Players Mentioned

Tristin Achenbach

Allie Brock

Dana Butterfield

Kendall Curtis

Colleen Driscoll

Michaela Hood

Presley Jantzi

Jaxie Klucewich

Maygen McGrath

Elise Ontiveros

Julie Phelps

Cami Sellers

McKenna Tjaden

Brooklyn Weisgram

University of Montana Athletics