Griz head to Vegas for second weekend

The Montana softball team, which opened its season last weekend at the Lynn Russell Miller Classic in Riverside, Calif., will continue the tournament portion of its schedule this week at the UNLV Desert Classic in Las Vegas.

The Grizzlies (0-5) will play games against CSU Bakersfield (0-5), Hawaii (3-3) and the host Rebels (2-4) at UNLV's Eller Media Stadium.

Montana went 0-5 last weekend in California, dropping two games to Middle Tennessee, two to Fresno State and one to host UC Riverside.

Middle Tennessee went 4-1 at the tournament, Fresno State and UC Riverside both went 3-2.

This week's schedule:

Friday, 11 a.m. (MT) – vs. CSU Bakersfield
Friday, 1:30 p.m. (MT) – vs. Hawaii
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. (MT) – vs. CSU Bakersfield
Saturday, 7 p.m. (MT) – at UNLV
Sunday, 10:30 a.m. (MT) – vs. Hawaii

Coverage: All 10 games of the UNLV Desert Classic will be streamed through YouTube, though only UNLV's games will have audio. All 10 games also can be tracked via live stats.

At a glance (CSU Bakersfield): The Roadrunners opened their season at No. 2 UCLA's tournament and lost five games by a combined score of 47-5, with four of those being run-rule losses after five innings. CSUB lost twice to the Bruins, twice to Utah State and once to Loyola Marymount.

CSU Bakersfield went just 9 for 96 (.094) at the plate and had a team ERA of 11.05.

The Roadrunners went 8-37 last year and ended the season on a 15-game losing streak. They finished last in the 10-team Big West with a 3-24 league record. CSUB was picked last in this year's preseason poll.

At a glance (Hawaii): The Rainbow Wahine are 3-3 after opening their season at home last week. Hawaii opened 3-0 with a win over Utah Tech and two against Saint Mary's. It lost its final three games, two to Utah Tech, one to Saint Mary's.

Hawaii batted .297 in its first six games and had an ERA of 4.05.

The Rainbow Wahine went 23-19 last season and finished third in the Big West at 17-10. Hawaii was picked third in this year's preseason poll, behind Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.

At a glance (UNLV): The Rebels are 2-4. They opened the season with a 13-3 win over Southern Utah, then lost to No. 7 Arkansas, 11-0, Weber State, 4-0, and Baylor, 9-1. After a 12-4, six-inning win over Weber State, UNLV lost to Southern Utah, the former Big Sky member that went 3-40 last season.

The Rebels have a six-game batting average of .307, a team ERA of 6.61. Last season, UNLV had an ERA for the season of 2.82, which ranked 57th nationally.

UNLV went 43-15 last spring and qualified for the National Invitational Softball Championship. The Rebels finished third in the Mountain West at 17-7 behind San Diego State and Boise State. They were picked third in this year's preseason poll, behind Boise State and San Diego State.

History: Montana has gone 2-3 against CSU Bakersfield, playing the Roadrunners five times at neutral sites between 2015 and '19.

Montana is 0-3 against Hawaii, with all three games on the Rainbow Wahine's home field. The teams played twice last season, with Hawaii winning 7-5 and 2-0.

Montana has gone 2-4 against UNLV, the two wins, by scores of 6-0 and 6-2, coming on back-to-back weekends in 2017 in Honolulu and St. George, Utah. The Rebels have won the teams' last three matchups by a combined score of 11-0.

Summary:

Montana opened its season with five losses in three days at the Lynn Russell Miller Classic in Riverside, Calif.

The Grizzlies opened with a tight 1-0 loss to Middle Tennessee, then allowed eight or more runs in each of their last four games to begin a season 0-5 for the first time since 2018.

Montana batted .222 and had a team ERA of 7.72.

"Opening weekend was one in which we saw a lot about ourselves and maybe what we didn't do," said sixth-year coach Melanie Meuchel. "We have talked about it, we have moved on and we are ready for Weekend 2."

The offensive highlight of the tournament was the play of Kelly Sweyer, who started all five games at designated player and hit in the No. 4 spot, and Hannah Jablonski, who made five starts at first base.

Sweyer had two hits as a freshman in 2021 in 15 at-bats, six as a sophomore in 42 at-bats. She went 6 for 16 last weekend with three doubles, one RBI and two runs scored.

Jablonski had one hit last year as a freshman in five at-bats. She went 5 for 14 last weekend, with four of her five hits going for extra bases. She had three doubles and hit her first collegiate home run. She drove in three, scored once.

"To watch our athletes and see the growth they have in their games, whether it is on a daily basis, a weekly basis or throughout the course of their career, it's always exciting to celebrate them being able to succeed with how much hard work and how much commitment they've put in," said Meuchel.

"To see their success is very nice." Sweyer batted .375, Jablonski .357.

Elise Ontiveros had a double and a home run, the second of her career, Presley Jantzi had four hits, all singles. Jaxie Klucewich, with three singles, was the only other Grizzly to have more than two hits last weekend.

In Montana's opening 1-0 loss to Middle Tennessee, Allie Brock went the distance, allowing four hits while striking out four and walking one. She threw just 76 pitches.

The Blue Raiders scored the only run they would need in the bottom of the first, with a single, a stolen base, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI ground out. Brock allowed three hits over the next five innings.

"Allie came out and threw a great first game for us. She is competitive and really kind of set the tone," said Meuchel.

But after the opener, Montana, which was without the strong arm of sophomore Dana Butterfield, gave up nine, eight, eight and nine runs. That was more than the Grizzlies, who scored 11 runs over five games, could keep up with.

Freshmen Grace Haegele and Evelyn O'Brien made their collegiate debuts, each making three appearances, and senior Maggie Joseph pitched for the first time in nearly a year after missing most of last season with an injury.

Montana issued 30 walks, had 11 wild pitches and hit five batters.

"As the weekend went on, as a staff we didn't settle in to who we truly are on the mound and gave up a little bit more than we would have wanted to," said Meuchel.

"We've talked through it, and we'll continue to work through it. I think we will now see Griz Softball pitching."

Montana gave up first-inning runs in four of five games and held just one lead, a short-lived 1-0 advantage against Middle Tennessee on Sunday. The Blue Raiders tied it in the bottom half of the inning, then scored four more in the next to pull away.

But sports, if it's not end-of-season competition, frequently allows for a quick turnaround, to make things right a few days later. That's the case for Montana, which will face CSU Bakersfield on Friday morning.

"It's part of our growth in our scheduling, to get out to tournaments that are competitive, where we can find regional competition. Excited to get Griz Softball back on the field," said Meuchel.

"More than anything, more than who we are up against, it's just about getting Griz Softball back out on the field so we can continue to settle in to who we are. We're competitive, we're gritty, we're determined, we're skilled. We're ready to get that team back out on the field."

Upcoming: Montana will head to Phoenix next week for Grand Canyon's Purple Classic. The Grizzlies will play the host Lopes, South Dakota and Utah State.

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Players Mentioned

Allie Brock

Dana Butterfield

Grace Haegele

Hannah Jablonski

Presley Jantzi

Maggie Joseph

Jaxie Klucewich

Evelyn O'Brien

Elise Ontiveros

Kelly Sweyer

University of Montana Athletics