Griz drop Mardi Gras Mambo finale

Sunday, February 11

Youngsville, La.

9 AM (MT)

Montana

2-3

Nicholls

4-2

Montana

Nicholls

Photo by: UM Photo/Coral Scoles-Coburn

2/11/2024 12:20:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team lost its final game of the Mardi Gras Mambo on Sunday morning, falling 9-2 to Nicholls at the Youngsville Softball Complex in Youngsville, La.

The Grizzlies (2-3) gave up three runs in the bottom of the first and second innings to fall behind 6-0, then scored their only runs of the game in the top of the fifth to pull within 6-2.

The Colonels (4-2) added three more in the bottom of the sixth as Montana used three pitchers in the game. Emmalyn Brinka (1-2) got the start, Grace Haegele and Rylee Rehbein threw in relief.

Nicholls, which won four games in Youngsville, outscoring those opponents 34-8, scored six runs across the first two innings on eight hits, all six runs getting charged to Brinka, who threw 1 2/3 innings.

Haegele closed out the bottom of the second, then held Nicholls scoreless on one hit over the next three innings.

Montana scored its runs in the top of the fifth. Jocelyn Eisen led off with a triple, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Grace Hardy.

Hannah Jablonski followed with an RBI double that scored Riley Peschek, who got on base on a hit by pitch after Eisen's triple.

Eisen had a double and a triple in the loss. She and Jablonski accounted for Montana's three hits in the game.

Nicholls scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth following a two-out infield error by the Grizzlies, their second error of the game, their 13th of the weekend.

Rehbein faced the final three batters in the bottom of the sixth in relief of Haegele.

Ten players had at least one hit for Nicholls, which had 12 in the game.

Montana will play in the UTEP Invitational next weekend, a tournament co-hosted by UTEP and New Mexico State.

The Grizzlies will play Purdue-Fort Wayne and UTEP on Friday in El Paso, Nebraska and New Mexico State on Saturday in Las Cruces, and Purdue-Fort Wayne a second time on Sunday back in El Paso.