Griz ready to open 2024 season in Louisiana

The Montana softball team will open its 2024 schedule this weekend when the Grizzlies play in the 10-team Mardi Gras Mambo at the Youngsville Sports Complex in Youngsville, La.

The Grizzlies will get games against Louisiana-Monroe, Southern, Southeastern Louisiana, Eastern Illinois and Nicholls.

The schedule:
Friday, 1 p.m. (MT) – vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Friday, 3 p.m. (MT) – vs. Southern
Saturday, 2:30 p.m. (MT) – vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (MT) – vs. Eastern Illinois
Sunday, 10 a.m. (MT) – vs. Nicholls

Coverage: With five games being played at one time at the complex, the usual means of following along (live stats, video) will be limited. Only Montana's games on Friday against Louisiana-Monroe and Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana will have live stats.

History: Montana will be playing Southern, Southeastern Louisiana, Eastern Illinois and Nicholls for the first time in program history this weekend. The Grizzlies have played one game against Louisiana-Monroe, losing 4-3 at Arizona's tournament in Tucson in 2018.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies went 10-37 last year and finished sixth in the six-team Big Sky Conference with a 4-11 league record. Montana, which ended last season with an RPI of 288 (out of 306), was picked sixth in this year's Big Sky poll.

At a glance (Louisiana-Monroe): The Warhawks, who ended the 2023 season with an RPI of 119, went 25-32 last year and tied for eighth in the strong Sun Belt Conference with a 7-17 league record. They were picked eighth out of 12 teams in this year's poll.

At a glance (Southern): The Jaguars went 13-34 a year ago, finishing fifth out of six teams in the West division of the SWAC with a league record of 8-16 and an RPI of 299. Southern was picked fifth out of six teams in the West again this season.

At a glance (Southeastern Louisiana): The Lions went 47-14 last year and ended the 2023 season with an RPI of 54. They went 19-5 in the Southland Conference to finish second behind McNeese and were picked for another second-place finish this year.

At a glance (Eastern Illinois): The Panthers, who had a season-ending RPI of 190, went 34-21 last year, finishing second in the Ohio Valley behind Southeast Missouri with a 16-6 league mark. They were picked second in this season's preseason poll.

At a glance (Nicholls): The Colonels went 29-24 last year and finished third in the Southland behind McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana. They had a season-ending RPI of 157. Nicholls was picked for another third-place finish in this year's poll.

Summary: It's the best weekend of the year for NCAA softball teams, when everyone is 0-0, holding big dreams and ready to bring the work of the offseason to the light of competition. Montana is no different.

"We are so excited, players, staff, everybody," said seventh-year coach Melanie Meuchel. "That's the case each year and with each team as you build up through the fall to put in place what you're excited to represent.

"We're in a great place right now. We're excited to open up and compete together and against another team."

Montana went 10-37 a year ago, getting off to a 0-20 start after playing in difficult tournaments in California, Nevada, Arizona and back in California to open the season.

The Grizzlies had six Division I wins, placed sixth in the Big Sky with a 4-11 league record, then went two-and-out at the Big Sky tournament, getting outscored by Northern Colorado and Portland State by a combined score of 22-1.

The experience left a mark and something to look back at and improve upon.

"That has provided the drive for us since the beginning of the fall, since Day 1," said Meuchel. "We've seen the growth of this 2024 team, we've seen the excitement, the understanding. We have a team we're proud of that will continue to develop and grow throughout the year.

"We're excited where we are. We're ready to step out this weekend no matter who we're playing and be able to be Griz Softball and continue to build on who we are and on all the hard work we've put in for the last five or six months."

This weekend, Montana will travel of Louisiana, a state that takes it softball seriously. Five teams in the state had top-100 RPIs at the end of last season: Louisiana (9), LSU (11), McNeese (31), Southeastern Louisiana (54) and Louisiana Tech (98).

It's Mardi Gras and the Youngsville Sports Complex will have five games going at all times in close proximity. "Softball is a big deal down there," said Meuchel, whose team will be playing four opponents this weekend for the first time in program history.

"As you're building the schedule, you try to find a place where you'll get opponents you don't typically see. It's stepping outside our region and playing teams that maybe are not as well known but have a good history of softball. It will be competitive and an excellent environment."

Last year's numbers did not suggest a lot of success for Montana. The team had an ERA of 6.44 and batted .242 while averaging just 2.7 runs per game.

Headlining the staff early on will be sophomore Grace Haegele, who went 4-16 a year ago and had an ERA of 7.35, and sophomore Emmalyn Brinka, a transfer from New Mexico who went 3-7 with an 8.73 ERA in her one season with the Lobos.

Joining the staff are freshmen Rylee Rehbein (Battle Ground, Wash.) and Nyeala Herndon (Helena, Mont.).

"Our focus and our command have been much stronger this year," said Meuchel. "We have a couple veteran pitchers who will lead us and our younger pitchers are taking major strides forward on a daily basis and have shown they can throw at this level.

"They continue to feed off of each other, knowing it's going to take all of them to be a great pitching staff."

Montana will have an upperclassman starting outfield, if the fall was any indication, with junior Jessica Stanfield in left, senior Elise Ontiveros in center and junior Presley Jantzi in right.

Those three players led the team in batting average in eight exhibition games in the fall, with Stanfield hitting .565, Jantzi .483 and Ontiveros, honorable mention All-Big Sky the last two years, .478.

Junior Hannah Jablonski started all 47 games at first base last season, junior Grace Hardy was the primary starter at third.

Junior power-hitter Kelly Sweyer made 44 starts at designated player, while upperclassman returners Riley Stockton and Kynzie Mohl made every start at catcher.

They will be trying to jumpstart an offense that scored 129 runs last year, 61 fewer than any other full season for Montana.

"The knowledge of who we are as hitters and how we can help contribute to our overall team offense has elevated," said Meuchel.

"A ton of excitement. You can feel their love for hitting and how much they can provide in each at-bat. I'm looking forward to our players having those opportunities, to be able to barrel up a ball when that time comes."

It comes this weekend. Finally.

Upcoming: Montana will play games next week against Purdue-Fort Wayne, UTEP, Nebraska and New Mexico State at the UTEP Invitational, which is co-hosted by UTEP and New Mexico State.

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Players Mentioned

Emmalyn Brinka

Grace Haegele

Grace Hardy

Nyeala Herndon

Hannah Jablonski

Presley Jantzi

Kynzie Mohl

Elise Ontiveros

Rylee Rehbein

Jessica Stanfield

Riley Stockton

Kelly Sweyer

University of Montana Athletics