Griz play final tournament games this weekend

The Montana softball team will wrap up its five-weekend tournament schedule when the Grizzlies face UNLV and the host Redhawks at the Seattle U Invitational on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Montana (0-20) will play Seattle (15-5) three times, UNLV (13-7) twice at SU's Logan Field.

The Grizzlies opened the season playing tournaments at Riverside, Calif.; Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego.

Montana will make its home debut when it hosts Carroll for a doubleheader at Grizzly Softball Field at 2 p.m. on Monday, March 20.

The Grizzlies will play another weekday doubleheader against Providence on Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. before starting Big Sky Conference play at Portland State the first weekend of April.

The schedule:

Friday, 1 p.m. (MT) – Montana vs. UNLV
Friday, 3:30 p.m. (MT) – Montana at Seattle
Saturday, 2 p.m. (MT) – Montana vs. UNLV
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (MT) – Montana at Seattle
Sunday, 1 p.m. (MT) – Montana at Seattle

Coverage: Montana's three games against Seattle will be available for streaming on WAC International. All five of Montana's games can be monitored via live stats.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies had their fourth five-loss tournament to open the season when they dropped five games at the San Diego Classic over the weekend, falling to Boston University, San Diego twice, Long Beach State and San Diego State.

Montana got outscored in the five games 54-4 while allowing an opponent batting average of .443.

The Grizzlies took a 3-2 lead on Long Beach State into the bottom of the sixth on Saturday afternoon, but LBSU loaded the bases before Jacquelyn Bickar cleared them with a game-winning grand slam on its way to a 6-3 win.

Montana got outscored 48-1 in its other four tournament games.

The Grizzlies are batting .208 this season and have an ERA of 8.28.

At a glance (Seattle): The Redhawks are 15-5 and have had a winning record at all four of their tournaments, three of which have been in California, one in Hawaii.

Seattle has Power 5 wins over Iowa State and Minnesota, and won 7-0 at Sacramento State the first weekend of the season, against a Hornets team that sits atop the Big Sky standings at 11-8.

In common opponents with Montana, Seattle went 3-0 against Fresno State, outscoring the Bulldogs 22-7, and run-ruled Hawaii 8-0 on its home field. The Grizzlies lost twice to Fresno State and lost twice to Hawaii by a combined score of 17-1.

Seattle is batting .308 and has an excellent ERA of 2.33. The Redhawks have held their opponent to two or fewer runs in 12 of 20 games this season.

Seattle, which went 32-24 last season, was picked for a second-place finish in the WAC behind Grand Canyon, which is now 21-2.

At a glance (UNLV): After opening the season 3-5, the Rebels have won 10 of 12. One of those wins was a 14-6 home victory over Montana on Feb. 18, a game UNLV blew open with 10 runs in the bottom of the third.

UNLV went 4-0 at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., two weekends ago, then went 3-2 over the weekend at the Trailblazer Tournament in St. George, Utah, including a win over Oregon State.

UNLV is batting .283 and has 24 doubles and 19 home runs. It has an ERA of 4.50.

Series history:

* Montana has a record of 6-6 against Seattle, with eight of those games taking place in Missoula, four at neutral sites. This week's games will be the Grizzlies' first at Logan Field.

* Montana has gone 2-5 against UNLV with four straight losses. Both of the Grizzlies wins against the Rebels came in neutral-site matchups in 2017.

Quoting coach Melanie Meuchel:

On the weekend ahead: "It's an opportunity for Griz Softball to define who we are. Looking over the first four weekends, it was not the outcomes and production we're striving for but each week we see some growth in some areas and understand that we have a lot of people playing in positions for the first time in their collegiate careers.

"There has been growth through that movement of positions as we try to find the best combination and production we can get for this team."

On the team's mindset: "The one thing about this team is they continue to fight. They continue to show up. They continue to stay through the process.

"When you look at the outcomes, it's not where we want to be or what we expect, but the perseverance we're showing and the way we continue to play for each other has given hope that we're going to see a breakthrough in what we're doing."

On looking ahead to games at home and the start of Big Sky: "When we started this fall, the 2023 team felt different. There was something special about them in the way they were bought into this program, the way they were bought into each other.

"It's something we've held on to through a very difficult time, a very challenging time, through a time in which it would be easy to drag our heads. I'm proud of this group. They continue to get up, continue to compete, continue to grind for this program.

"The biggest part of our season is still sitting in front of us, so we'll keep growing and learning and staying the process. That gives us drive every day. I do believe this group is going to be paid back."

Upcoming: The home opener. Montana will host Carroll for a doubleheader on Monday, March 20, at 2 p.m. at Grizzly Softball Field.

University of Montana Athletics

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