Haegele dazzles as Griz sweep Argos

Tuesday, March 28

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

5-23

Providence (MT)

Providence

Montana

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

3/28/2023 8:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: Montana Sports Information

There are pitchers who opt to ignore the batter they are facing when they stand inside the circle, within the softball field, preferring to make it a simple matter of pitch and catch with their battery mate behind the plate.

It can be easier that way. It takes the hitter and anything they are trying to do to get the upper hand out of the equation. It minimizes confrontation. Pitch is called. Catcher sets and provides a target. Pitch is thrown. Hit the spot, repeat.

That's not Montana freshman Grace Haegele's style. Not at all. She needs to make it personal, you against her, a one-on-one battle. She doesn't avoid making eye contact against her opponent. She initiates it.

She wants you to know she's coming for you. And when the at-bat is over and she's come out ahead, she's fine letting you know about it. That's her nature and there is no use hiding it, though that's what she found herself doing early this season.

Haegele wasn't supposed to be leading Montana in appearances – 19 through 29 games this season – but that's how it's had to be with Dana Butterfield out and Allie Brock battling her own injury.

She was the Grizzlies' starter in their second game of the season. She needed 105 pitches to get through four innings against Fresno State down in Riverside. She walked seven, hit a batter and uncorked three wild pitches.

She would begin the season with a record of 0-11.

She picked up her first collegiate win against UNLV, got another last week against Carroll, then on Tuesday showed the stuff that made her the MaxPreps Washington Player of the Year last spring as a senior at Redmond (Wash.) High.

She got the win in Game 2, leading Montana a 6-4 and 5-1 sweep of Providence at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula. She was at her high-energy best in winning for the third time in her last four appearances.

"I've learned that being myself is the most important part," she said. "There are things I can be working on, small adjustments I need to make, but if I remain confident and have swag out on the mound, I'm going to beat batters."

After Montana held on in Game 1 – the Grizzlies built a 4-0 lead after one inning but saw that advantage get cut to one in the fourth – it was all Montana in Game 2, with Haegele throwing the first seven-inning complete game of her collegiate career.

Did every inning end with Haegele excitedly stomping her way out of the circle? You know it did.

"(The key for me today was) resetting myself between innings," she said. "Then staring straight into the eye of the batter and telling myself I'm going to beat them every single time and just spinning the heck out of the ball."

Montana improved to 6-23 with the sweep and now will take a four-game winning streak into Big Sky Conference play, which opens this weekend with a three-game series at Portland State.

Sure, the wins came against a pair of NAIA opponents, but Montana was owed a little something after a historically challenging start to the season.

"We learned a lot," said coach Melanie Meuchel of the season's first five weeks. "We had some time to be able to recover, regroup a little bit, take some time off, and I felt like we responded. Providence was sitting in front of us and now the talk is the Big Sky Conference. You can feel the excitement."

Montana went through the ups and downs in Game 1, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first but also leaving eight runners on through the first three innings.

The Grizzlies could have buried the Argos. Instead they gave them life.

Montana loaded the bases in the bottom of the first without a batted ball, with two Grizzlies getting hit by pitch, another reaching by walk. Riley Stockton, Game 1's big bat, made it 2-0 when she doubled to left.

A sacrifice fly and a ground out made it 4-0, but Montana would leave the bases loaded. The Grizzlies left two on in the second and the bases loaded again in the third, when they made it 5-0 on a bases-loaded walk.

That allowed Providence to pull within an uncomfortable 5-4 when the Argos scored four runs on three hits and a Montana error in the top of the fourth, which had starter Allie Brock getting relieved by Maggie Joseph.

Providence advanced the potential tying run to second with one out in the top of the sixth, but Joseph shut the door with a swinging strikeout and fly out to left.

Stockton homered to left-center with one out in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-4 and give Montana and Joseph a bit more breathing room. It was Stockton's first home run of the season, the second of her career.

She would finish the game 3 for 4 with three RBI and two runs scored. It was a career high for hits and runs scored and matched her career high for RBI.

Joseph gave up a two-out single in the top of the seventh but got a game-ending fly out to center to secure the victory for Montana. It was Joseph's first win as a Grizzly.

After Haegele worked a 1-2-3 top of the first in Game 2 – cue up the foot-stomping – Montana got doubles from Kendall Curtis, Kynzie Mohl and Hannah Jablonski in the bottom half of the inning to give the Grizzlies an early 2-0 lead.

Providence threatened in the top of the second, putting runners on second and third with one out. Haegele was up for the challenge. She struck out the final two batters, both swinging, without throwing a ball. She looked them in the eye, then went right at them.

"What you're facing with every hitter at this level is a little different than what you face in high school ball or travel ball. It's about having focus for every pitch," said Meuchel. "I tell (our pitchers), hit the gas pedal for every pitch. Be committed to what you're throwing.

"At times early in the year, it was a challenge (for Grace) to get into a rhythm, a challenge to trust, a challenge to be herself. Today she was good. There were times she turned it up a notch today."

Montana added three runs in the bottom of the second. Grace Hardy hit her second home run of the season, Elise Ontiveros had an RBI triple and Kelly Sweyer had an RBI single to center.

Montana had just three more hits the rest of the game, but it was enough for Haegele, who allowed a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth for Providence's only run.

She threw 103 pitches, allowed four hits, struck out a season-high six batter. She's knocked seven runs off her ERA over the last five weeks.

"There were times today when we didn't fully play Griz Softball," said Meuchel. "There was just a little hesitation in what we were doing. I thought we responded back after recognizing that we weren't there.

"I thought we did some things well today. It was an opportunity to face another team, other pitching. Now we can get ready to put everything on the table against Portland State."

The Grizzlies (6-23) and Vikings (9-16) will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. (MT), a single game on Sunday starting at 1 p.m. (MT).

Montana's road trip will conclude with a game at Oregon at 1 p.m. (MT) on Monday.