Griz return to SoCal seeking first win

The Montana softball team, which opened its season at UC Riverside's tournament, returns to Southern California this week for the San Diego Classic.

The tournament is co-hosted by San Diego State, which will host games played on Friday and Saturday, and San Diego, which will host Sunday's games.

The Grizzlies (0-15) will play games against Boston University (11-3), San Diego (3-14), Long Beach State (5-10) and San Diego State (10-5).

Montana went 0-5 at UC Riverside's tournament, 0-5 in Las Vegas and 0-5 last weekend at Grand Canyon's Purple Classic in Phoenix.

The Grizzlies will conclude their tournament schedule next week at the Seattle Invitational. Montana will play three games against Seattle, two against UNLV.

Montana will host weekday doubleheaders against Carroll on Monday, March 20, and Providence on Tuesday, March 28, before opening Big Sky play at Portland State on April 1.

Schedule:

Friday, 10 a.m. (MT) – vs. Boston University
Friday, 8 p.m. (MT) – vs. San Diego
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. (MT) – vs. Long Beach State
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. (MT) – vs. San Diego
Sunday, 11 a.m. (MT) – vs. San Diego State

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies dropped to 0-15 on the season with five losses last weekend in Phoenix.

Montana opened with a tight 2-1 loss to South Dakota, then couldn't keep up offensively in losses to Grand Canyon (8-0), Utah State (9-3), Grand Canyon (7-3) and Utah State (12-9).

Through three weekends and 15 games, Montana is batting .215 and has an ERA of 7.37. The Grizzlies have been outscored this season 114-39.

At a glance (Boston University): The Terriers are a really good program that you didn't know was a really good program, with 10 NCAA appearances since 2002 under four different head coaches.

Boston University is 87-24 since the start of the 2021 season, with an 11-3 start to this season. The Terriers have losses to No. 4/5 Florida, in nine innings against Canisius and at Charlotte.

Boston University is batting .314 and averaging more than six runs per game. Its three-pitcher staff has an ERA of 2.88.

The Terriers were picked first in the Patriot League preseason poll. Junior shortstop Kayla Roncin was voted the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, senior Allison Boaz the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

At a glance (San Diego): The Toreros went 20-34 last year and are off to a 3-14 start this season. One of those wins was a 12-1, five-inning victory over Portland State.

San Diego is batting .209 with 47 runs scored through 17 games and has just 15 extra-base hits while allowing 58, 28 doubles, 10 triples and 20 home runs. Five pitchers have a combined ERA of 6.47.

The Toreros were picked third in the six-team West Coast Conference preseason poll, behind BYU and Loyola Marymount and ahead of Santa Clara, Saint Mary's and Pacific.

At a glance (Long Beach State): The Beach is 5-10, with eight of its losses coming against Power 5 opponents.

Long Beach State played last weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif., and went 1-4, with losses to Washington, BYU, Missouri and Utah, and a 3-1 win over Utah Valley.

The Beach is batting .249 and has used seven pitchers this season to compile a staff ERA of 5.05.

Long Beach State has advanced to the NCAA tournament eight times under 17th-year coach Kim Sowder, most recently in 2021 when it won the Big West with a 22-2 league record.

Long Beach State, which finished second last year, was picked second in this season's Big West preseason poll behind Cal State Fullerton.

At a glance (San Diego State): The Aztecs are 10-5, with four losses to ranked opponents, the other by one run against Ohio State.

SDSU is batting .301 this season and has an ERA of 2.36.

In a common opponent with Montana, the Aztecs defeated UC Riverside 7-4, a team that defeated the Grizzlies 8-0 the weekend before.

San Diego State went 39-16 last season and won the Mountain West with a 20-4 league record. The Aztecs advanced to the Tempe Regional and picked up wins over LSU and Cal State Fullerton.

The Aztecs were picked second in this year's preseason poll behind Boise State. The Broncos collected five first-place votes and 61 points, the Aztecs four first-place votes and 60 points.

Series histories:

* Montana is 0-1 against Boston University. The Grizzlies lost 3-2 to the Terriers at Arkansas' tournament in 2020 on a game-winning run in the top of the seventh.

* Montana is 1-1 against San Diego with both matchups taking place in February 2015, the first season the Grizzlies played softball.

The Grizzlies lost 5-3 to San Diego, then picked up the first win in program history with an 11-5 win, with Tori Lettus and Mackenzie Kutzke both driving in three and Meggie Reitz earning Montana's first win.

* Montana has never played Long Beach State or San Diego State.

Summary:

Though its record says 0-15, Montana takes a bit of momentum to San Diego after the way the Grizzlies closed out the Purple Classic in Phoenix last weekend.

Montana scored three runs off Grand Canyon on Saturday night, against a staff that has the nation's seventh-best ERA of 1.28 and is now 16-1.

The Grizzlies came back Sunday morning and put up a season-high nine runs on Utah State, a breakthrough for a team that scored three or fewer runs in 11 of the season's first 14 games.

"The smiles and celebrations were back on Sunday," said coach Melanie Meuchel. "The excitement to get in the box and compete was thick. It was every single person.

"It was a never-say-die attitude. It became contagious, it became determined. We walked away from that game knowing we found ourselves a little bit more."

Montana batted just .194 through its first 10 games. Last weekend in Phoenix: .254.

"We were pressing a lot and never really settled," said Meuchel, whose team has had less-than-ideal weather conditions this winter, with snow and cold keeping the team oftentimes indoors.

"We haven't been on a field long enough to get rhythm and flow. Some of our flow we're having to pick up in a game more than on a practice field. We'll continue to be Montana tough and grind through."

Montana fell behind Grand Canyon on Saturday night 5-0 and 7-1 but got late home runs from Kelly Sweyer and freshman Chloe Saxton, the first of her career.

The Grizzlies fell behind Utah State 7-0 on Sunday morning, pulled within one with a six-run bottom of the fourth, then added a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.

Montana's big at-bat was a grand slam by Kendall Curtis, the 13th in program history and the second for Curtis in her career.

Curtis was 3 for 35 on the season when she stepped into the box with the bases loaded and nobody out.

With one swing, Curtis turned a one-sided game into a question: Wait, Montana isn't just going to go away?

"I'm proud of the fight. I'm proud of the ability to continue to want to make a change, to want to stick with the process, knowing we're really small steps away," said Meuchel.

"We've had opportunities in which we could give up, give in and roll over and this team won't. This team continues to fight for the program, continues to fight for their teammates."

Montana has given up seven or more runs in 12 of 15 games this season.

Staff ace Allie Brock, who has a 3.82 ERA, has only been able to make four starts. Dana Butterfield, staff ace No. 2, has yet to make her first appearance of the season.

Neither pitched last weekend, placing a heavy burden on freshmen Grace Haegele and Evelyn O'Brien, and senior Maggie Joseph, who missed most of last spring and all of the fall with her own injury.

"We've been bitten a little bit with injuries. We know that if we continue to push forward and stay the course and can start to gain back some players we've been missing, it will put us in a better place.

"We're working through some mistakes we're making and continue to see growth in our two young pitchers. If we continue to grind and stay the course, things will match up," said Meuchel.

Both Brock and Butterfield are expected to return to action this season.

"That will release some of the stress our other pitchers have had to take on when we're able to have a little bit of a veteran presence on the mound," said Meuchel.

Next up on the schedule is Boston University on Friday morning, then four games against teams from Southern California in Southern California. Nothing is going to come easily.

"It's catching a break and working toward making our own breaks," said Meuchel. "We'll continue to put our best game forward and compete for as long as it takes."

Montana notes:

* In addition to her grand slam, Kendall Curtis later added a sacrifice fly for her fifth RBI on Sunday. It was the 11th time in program history a player has had five or more RBI in a game.

* Grace Hardy earlier this season had five RBI against Hawaii. The program record is seven, set by Lexie Brenneis against North Dakota in 2015.

* Montana allowed its opponents to hit seven home runs through the first 14 games. On Sunday morning, Utah State hit five, including four consecutive batters in the bottom of the fifth.

* The most home runs Montana has allowed in its history is six, to Sacramento State and Utah State in 2021.

* Sophomore Hannah Jablonski leads Montana with four multiple-hit games this season.

* The Grizzlies have been outscored 64-8 through the first three innings this season and have allowed a first-inning run in 11 of 15 games.

* Jaxie Klucewich had her first multiple-hit game of the season on Sunday against Utah State, Julie Phelps her second.

* Elise Ontiveros had a hit in the four games she started last weekend in Phoenix. … Hannah Jablonski went 6 for 11 in Montana's final three games at Grand Canyon.

* Hannah Jablonski, with six, and Kelly Sweyer, with five, have 11 of Montana's 22 extra-base hits this season.

* Montana's opponents have scored 114 runs this season while collecting 118 hits. The Grizzlies have walked 80 batters, hit 25.

* Montana did not walk a batter against Utah State on Sunday, a first this season. The Grizzlies walked 26 batters their first four games in Phoenix.

* Montana's six runs in the bottom of the fourth on Sunday against Utah State were the most for the Grizzlies since last April 2 at Southern Utah.

Upcoming: Montana will play three games against Seattle, two against UNLV next week at the Seattle Invitational. The Grizzlies lost 14-6 to the Rebels earlier this season.

Seattle is 12-3 and plays at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., this weekend. UNLV is 10-5, with seven straight wins. The Rebels play at the Trailblazer Tournament in St. George, Utah.

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Players Mentioned

Allie Brock

Dana Butterfield

Kendall Curtis

Grace Haegele

Grace Hardy

Hannah Jablonski

Maggie Joseph

Jaxie Klucewich

Evelyn O'Brien

Elise Ontiveros

Julie Phelps

Chloe Saxton

Kelly Sweyer

University of Montana Athletics