Griz off to UTEP, New Mexico State for five games

The Montana softball team, which opened the season with two wins in five games at the Mardi Gras Mambo, will play five more games this week at the UTEP Invitational.

The Grizzlies will play two games on Friday and one on Sunday in El Paso, Texas, two games on Saturday up the road in Las Cruces, N.M.

Montana will get two games against Purdue-Fort Wayne and one-time matchups against UTEP, Nebraska and New Mexico State.

The schedule:
Friday, 11 a.m. – vs. Purdue-Fort Wayne
Friday, 2 p.m. – at UTEP
Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – vs. Nebraska
Saturday, 2:30 p.m. – at New Mexico State
Sunday, 9 a.m. – vs. Purdue-Fort Wayne

Coverage: All three of Montana's games in El Paso will have video coverage, either through ESPN+ or YouTube, plus live stats.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies opened their season going 2-3 at the Mardi Gras Mambo in Youngsville, La., collecting 5-4 wins on Friday over Louisiana-Monroe and Southern, then falling to Southeastern Louisiana, Eastern Illinois and Nicholls.

Montana has a five-game team batting average of .192, a team ERA of 4.67. Presley Jantzi collected six hits at the Mardi Gras Mambo and leads the team with a .375 batting average. Sophomore pitchers Grace Haegele and Emmalyn Brinka made all five starts for the Grizzlies.

At a glance (Purdue-Fort Wayne): The Mastodons went 1-3 at Alabama State's Stinger Classic over the weekend, picking up a 2-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State. Purdue-Fort Wayne had a team batting average of .275, an ERA of 5.19.

The Mastodons went 17-32 last year, finishing eighth out of nine teams in the Horizon League at 9-14. They were picked eighth in this year's preseason poll.

At a glance (UTEP): The Miners opened the season 4-1 at their own Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament over the weekend, their lone loss coming to Western Michigan. UTEP has a five-game batting average of .273, an ERA of 2.94.

The Miners went 11-34 a year ago and finished 10th out of 10 teams in Conference USA with a 2-22 league record. UTEP was picked ninth out of nine teams in this year's preseason poll.

At a glance (Nebraska): The Cornhuskers opened their season going 2-2 at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge in Mexico, dropping games to No. 7 Washington and No. 11 Duke and picking up wins over Long Beach State and Utah Valley.

Ranked No. 18 in the preseason USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll, Nebraska dropped out in this week's poll. The Cornhuskers hit .191 in Mexico and had an ERA of 4.48.

Nebraska went 36-22 last season and finished fourth in the Big Ten at 13-10 before advancing to the NCAA tournament.

The Cornhuskers are coached by Rhonda Revelle, who enters the week with 1,099 career wins at the school. She has led Nebraska to 22 NCAA tournaments in her first 31 years in Lincoln and to the Women's College World Series in 1998, 2002 and '13.

At a glance (New Mexico State): The Aggies opened their season 4-0 at home last weekend with doubleheader sweeps of Monmouth and Abilene Christian, outscoring their opponents 26-6. They batted .308 in the four wins and had a sparkling ERA of 0.81.

New Mexico State went 21-25 last year, tying for eighth in the strong WAC with a 10-14 league record. The Aggies, who have switched affiliations, were picked seventh out of nine teams in this year's Conference USA preseason poll.

History: Montana has faced UTEP, Nebraska and New Mexico State a total of five times in its history. The Grizzlies will be facing Purdue-Fort Wayne for the first time.

Montana went 1-1 against UTEP at its Orange and Blue Classic in 2021. Tristin Achenbach pitched a complete game in a 5-2 victory. The next day, the Miners won a high-scoring 14-13 decision. The Grizzlies scored five runs in the top of the seventh, the game ending with the tying run at the plate.

Montana's lone game against Nebraska was its fourth in program history, in 2015 and also in Las Cruces. The Cornhuskers won 13-4, a rare score for a no-hitter. Two Nebraska pitchers no-hit Montana but walked six, threw four wild pitches and hit a batter.

Montana is 0-2 against New Mexico State, falling 8-0 to the Aggies in Las Cruces in the first game in program history in 2015, at the Hotel Encanto Classic, and 6-3 in 2019 in Las Cruces at the Troy Cox Classic.

Montana notes:

* Montana's 2-0 start to the season was only its second 2-0 start in program history, matching the 2020 team that opened 4-0.

* Six of the 16 players who saw action in Youngsville were making their Grizzly debuts: transfers Emmalyn Brinka and Jocelyn Eisen, and freshmen Madison Tarrant, Riley Peschek, Rylee Rehbein and Nyeala Herndon.

* Brinka (3) and Grace Haegele (2) started all five games at the Mardi Gras Mambo. Rehbein made three appearances in relief, not allowing a run over 3 1/3 innings. Herndon made one appearance, throwing 3 1/3 innings.

* Presley Jantzi led Montana offensively at the Mardi Gras Mambo going 6 for 16 (.375) with a double and four runs scored. Her three hits against Louisiana-Monroe in the opener matched a career high.

* Jocelyn Eisen, in her Griz debut, had four hits and batted .286. She had two of the team's nine extra-base hits with a double and a triple in Sunday's loss to Nicholls. She matched Jantzi for the team lead with four runs scored.

* Montana collected win No. 2 of the season on Feb. 9. Win No. 2 last season did not come until March 11 in the 23rd game of the season.

* The Grizzlies won 5-4 over Louisiana-Monroe on Friday after training 3-0 and 4-1. It was the first time Montana rallied for a victory after trailing by three or more runs since winning 14-11 at Southern Utah in April 2022. Montana trailed in that game 9-3.

* Riley Stockton, Grace Hardy and Kelly Sweyer led Montana with three RBIs in Louisiana.

* Montana started the same infield every game in Louisiana – Jablonski (1B), Eisen (2B), Hardy (3B), Peschek (SS) – and the same outfield – Strong (LF), Stanfield (CF), Jantzi (RF).

* Riley Stockton made three starts at catcher, Kynzie Mohl two. Kelly Sweyer made four starts at designated player, Madison Tarrant one.

Upcoming: Montana will face CSU Bakersfield three times and Saint Mary's twice at CSUB's Kathy Welter Classic in Bakersfield, Calif., Feb. 23-25.

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Players Mentioned

Emmalyn Brinka

Jocelyn Eisen

Grace Haegele

Grace Hardy

Nyeala Herndon

Presley Jantzi

Kynzie Mohl

Riley Peschek

Rylee Rehbein

Riley Stockton

Kelly Sweyer

Madison Tarrant

University of Montana Athletics