Griz walk it off, win 10-1 in six innings

Saturday, April 9

Missoula, Mont.

1 PM

Montana

17-18, 5-4

Idaho State

19-20, 3-6

Idaho State

Montana

4/9/2022 5:24:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Nobody has given more of herself to the Montana softball program than Kylie Becker.

You could see it in the way she made her way gingerly around the diamond on Saturday, the third game of Montana's series with Idaho State at Grizzly Softball Field, carryover for Becker from just another day at the office 24 hours before.

She got hit with a fastball in the left knee on Friday, her program-record 24th time getting plunked with a pitch in her career, then later fouled a ball off her lower leg, and still she steps in and toes the white line of the batter's box, crowding the plate as closely as the rules allow.

And there she was on Saturday, a bit hobbled but not hindered, making the highlight plays look routine at third base, her instincts and glove and arm as good as anyone you've probably ever seen at the college level, her collected aches and pains forgotten in the moment.

So when she connected with a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the sixth and sent a ball straight into a biting wind and over the fence in left for a walk-off home run, giving Montana a 10-1 win, every one of her teammates' arms reached for the sky.

Part of it was bouncing back from two disappointing losses on Friday. Most of it was seeing Becker get paid back. She plays the game on the edge. This time she could take her time rounding the bases. Her work had been done, the game had been won.

"Both arms went up for everybody on this team just in pure excitement, knowing that she does everything she can do to get on base for our team," said coach Melanie Meuchel.

"She's gritty, she's feisty, she's tough. To stay in the battle in that at-bat and continue to stay the course of it and swing aggressively, I'm so proud of her."

It was the defining play on a day when Montana dominated a team that had had the upper hand on Friday, winning 7-6 and 10-1.

The Grizzlies (17-18, 5-4 BSC) scored 10 runs on 10 hits, plating multiple runners against all three pitchers the Bengals (19-20, 3-6 BSC) sent out to the circle.

"We talked about the detail, about working together to get the most out of what we're all trying to do," said Meuchel, who watched as eight of her nine batters during the game had at least one hit.

"This team doesn't give up. This team has a lot of fight. Knowing we weren't who we wanted to be yesterday, we knew we could control that today.

"When we walked in today, everybody was excited to have the chance to go again together. I thought we competed really hard and really well together and had a lot of belief."

After a scoreless first inning, Montana got to Idaho State starter Haley Rainey, who got the win in Friday's opener, in the second.

The Grizzlies scored five runs in the inning on four hits, the big blow a two-out, two-run double to left-center by Cami Sellers that made it 5-0.

It was the type of run-scoring hit Montana lacked on Friday against Rainey, when the Grizzlies left 13 runners stranded, at least one every inning.

Montana lost 7-6 to Rainey despite outhitting the Bengals.

"We felt comfortable today. We saw her yesterday and felt like we did fairly well against her," said Meuchel. "It was taking away some zones and making her bring it into the zones we were looking for."

Rainey didn't get an out in the second before being replaced by Emma McMurray, who was replaced by Mareena Ramirez in the fourth, when Montana blew the game open.

Brooklyn Weisgram had a two-run double in the inning, Sellers an RBI double to make it 8-1.

Montana left the bases loaded in the fourth, when one more run would have put the run rule into effect, two on in the fifth when Elise Ontiveros had her first career triple but was tagged out at the plate on a squeeze bunt by the game's next batter.

All it did was extend the game, not the drama, so in control was starter Dana Butterfield from the opening pitch.

She threw a three-hitter for her team-high 10th complete game and her eighth win. She struck out three and gave up just one run, on an RBI infield single in the top of the third, against the same team that pounded out 26 hits in Friday's doubleheader.

"Dana came out and threw very aggressive with a lot of command of what she wanted to do. It was just pure competition. She competed for us today and had great outcomes," said Meuchel, whose team played error-free defense.

"Our defense had Dana's back and got some outs as well. We just played hard."

Becker and Sellers both had two hits and three RBIs. Becker's three RBIs matched her career high.

Montana will play at Weber State (28-8, 6-0 BSC) next week. The Wildcats swept Southern Utah on Friday and Saturday in Ogden, outscoring the Thunderbirds 25-0 in the series.