Griz head to Greeley for Big Sky series

The Montana softball team will try to snap a four-game losing streak and win its first Big Sky Conference series in more than a year this week when it plays a three-game set at Northern Colorado in Greeley.

The Grizzlies (7-29, 1-5 BSC) and Bears (14-18, 2-4 BSC) will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 3 p.m. at Gloria Rodriguez Field, a single game on Saturday at noon.

Montana will play a series at Idaho State on Friday and Saturday, April 21-22, before wrapping up the regular season hosting Weber State on April 28-29.

The six-team Big Sky Conference Championship will be held in Ogden, Utah, starting Wednesday, May 10.

Coverage: All of Montana's Big Sky Conference games can be seen on ESPN+.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies are coming off a 0-3 home series with Big Sky leader Sacramento State.

The Hornets outscored Montana 17-2 in the three games, with a pair of 6-0 shutouts, but two of the games still held some late-inning drama.

Game 2 was tied 2-2 entering the seventh when Sacramento State got a two-out, pinch-hit, three-run home run to win it 5-2.

Game 3 was scoreless entering the fifth inning. The Hornets scored one in the fifth, five in the sixth to pull away as Montana left nine runners on base.

The sweep gave Sacramento State a 25-6 all-time record against Montana. The Hornets are 10-2 against Montana at Grizzly Softball Field.

The results dropped the Grizzlies to 1-28 this season against Division I opponents when those opponents have scored two or more runs.

Montana's three Division I wins have come by 2-1 scores against UNLV and Portland State, and a 5-4 victory over UNLV.

The Grizzlies' season batting average of .227 ranks 268th nationally out of 295 teams. The team's ERA of 6.31 ranks 281st.

Montana, which ranks 279th in scoring at 2.47 runs per game, is batting .207 with runners in scoring position.

Elise Ontiveros leads the team in batting average at .292, which ranks 20th in the Big Sky Conference. Allie Brock's team-best ERA of 4.74 ranks 10th in the Big Sky.

At a glance (Northern Colorado): The Bears, who went 23-30 last season and finished fourth in the Big Sky at 10-8, underwent an offseason coaching change after Ben Garcia retired.

Hired to replace Garcia was Dedeann Pendleton-Helm, who spent the previous 17 seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado State.

The Bears were picked sixth out of six teams in this year's preseason polls but have won 14 games, second only to Sacramento State.

Opening league with consecutive series on the road, Northern Colorado went 1-2 at both Sacramento State and Idaho State.

Sophomore pitcher Isabelle DiNapoli threw complete games as the Bears won 3-0 at Sacramento State and 4-0 at Idaho State.

Senior pitcher Erin Caviness has a 3.18 ERA, which ranks fourth in the Big Sky. Her 101 strikeouts rank first, 22 more than any other pitcher in the league.

Northern Colorado's team ERA of 4.30 ranks second in the Big Sky behind Sacramento State's 2.87. The Bears are batting .255.

Senior outfielder Lauren Strathearn leads the team and ranks third in the Big Sky in batting average at .359. She leads the Big Sky with 37 hits.

Series history:

* Montana leads the all-time series against Northern Colorado 13-11. The Bears are 7-2 against the Grizzlies in the teams' last nine meetings.

* Northern Colorado ended Montana's season last spring, winning 6-2 in Ogden, Utah, in the Big Sky tournament behind six strong innings from DiNapoli.

* Montana is 4-5 all-time in Greeley. Three of those wins came in a sweep in 2016. The Grizzlies went 1-2 at UNC in 2018, 0-3 in 2021.

* Northern Colorado has won the last two series against Montana, going 3-0 in Greeley in 2021, 2-1 in Missoula in 2022.

* The Bears have scored six or more runs in seven of the teams' last eight matchups. In the other game they scored four.

Montana notes:

* The Grizzlies have won just two of their last 11 Big Sky series, going 3-0 at Southern Utah last season and 3-0 at Idaho State in 2021.

* Marissa Bertuccio, last year's Big Sky Pitcher of the Year, led the Hornets to a Game 1 victory on Friday at Grizzly Softball Field, throwing a five-hitter.

* In Game 2, Montana rallied from a 2-0 deficit on a Kelly Sweyer RBI single in the third, a Grace Hardy RBI double in the sixth that tied the score at 2-2.

* Maggie Joseph got the start in Game 2 and held the Hornets to two runs on seven hits through six innings before Sacramento State scored three times in the top of the seventh.

* In Game 3, Grace Haegele faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings, gave up an unearned run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.

* Sacramento State added five runs in the top of the sixth, four of them unearned after a Montana infield throwing error.

* Kendall Curtis had a pair of hits in Game 2, her fifth multiple-hit game of the season, the 17th of her career.

* Maggie Joseph worked 6 2/3 innings in Game 2 against Sacramento State, a career high. Her 119 pitches also were a career high.

* Julie Phelps went 3 for 4 in Game 3, the fifth three-hit game of her career. … Kelly Sweyer went 2 for 3 in Game 2, the fifth multiple-hit game of her career.

* Presley Jantzi went 2 for 2 in Game 3, her third multiple-hit game of the season, the 15th of her career.

* Montana is batting .230 in league, its opponents are batting .363.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* This week's RPI: Sacramento State (122), Weber State (160), Northern Colorado (210), Portland State (216), Idaho State (221), Montana (281) out of 306 teams.

* Sacramento State, which went 2-1 against Northern Colorado and 3-0 at Montana, leads the Big Sky at 5-1.

* Portland State is in second at 4-2. The Vikings went 2-1 at home against Montana, 2-1 on the road last week at Weber State.

* Playing its first games since March 18, Idaho State went 2-1 at home against Northern Colorado last weekend, winning 1-0 and 3-2 in eight innings, and falling 4-0.

* Portland State won two of three at Weber State last week. It was the first time the Wildcats have dropped a Big Sky series since 2018.

* This week's series: Montana at Northern Colorado, Weber State at Sacramento State, Idaho State at Portland State.

Upcoming: Montana will play a three-game series at Idaho State. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday, April 21, a single game on Saturday, April 22, at ISU's Miller Ranch Stadium.

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Players Mentioned

Allie Brock

Kendall Curtis

Grace Haegele

Grace Hardy

Presley Jantzi

Maggie Joseph

Elise Ontiveros

Julie Phelps

Kelly Sweyer

University of Montana Athletics