Jantzi’s grand slam powers Grizzlies to series win

Saturday, March 23

Missoula, Mont.

1 PM

Montana

12-17

North Dakota

6-29

North Dakota

Montana

Photo by: Coral Scoles-Coburn/University of Montana

Jantzi’s grand slam powers Grizzlies to series win

3/23/2024 5:29:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Junior Presley Jantzi's third career home run, her first since her freshman year, couldn't have come at a better time for the Montana softball team.

Jantzi's grand slam in the bottom of the fourth broke a 2-2 tie and powered the Grizzlies to a 9-3 victory over North Dakota on Saturday afternoon at Grizzly Softball Field and a series win over UND.

The Fighting Hawks pitched themselves into trouble in the bottom of the fourth, walking Montana's No. 9 hitter with two outs to load the bases and bring up Jantzi, who was batting .416 on the season as she watched from the on-deck circle.

It's not a position she would have wanted to be in earlier in her career or even earlier this season, but she has grown into the role of the batter an opposing team doesn't want to see coming up with the bases loaded.

The player who stepped into the box on Saturday had gone 14 for 21 over Montana's previous six games and led off Saturday with a double to left. She is in some sort of a groove and she knows it.

"At the beginning of the year, I would have told you no, I don't want to be up in that moment," she admitted after the game. "It's nerve-racking. You want to put some runs on the board so you think, I have to do something big."

She has taken to heart the recent lessons imparted on her by coach Melanie Meuchel. You don't have to be the hero, just try to hit the ball hard and put it in play. "Now I'd give you a solid yes, I do want to be up in those moments," she said.

Before she could face North Dakota starter Camryn Lasota, UND had a conference at the mound to go through its options with the bases loaded, two outs and Jantzi at the plate. The Fighting Hawks were up against it and they knew it.

"That instantly took my confidence up another level. Why are you calling timeout, are you nervous? That gave me a little more of a boost. Let's do something big here," she said.

Her drive to center on a 2-0 pitch was a no-doubter and the 14th grand slam in program history. It put the Grizzlies up 6-2 and on their way to their seventh win in the last 10 games.

"A lot of the year is growing to develop who you are, find out who you are," said Meuchel. "We've shown we have some toughness to us, some resiliency to fight back. Right now we're in attack mode.

"We're seeing some things we've worked hard for pay us back a little bit. We're present in what we're doing and have a lot of confidence in what we're doing. You're seeing that in our play."

Montana had it all working on Saturday as Jantzi, Riley Peschek and Hannah Jablonski all had multiple hits, Rylee Rehbein picked up win No. 6 and the Grizzlies played rock-solid defense.

The outfield made some sweet grabs and the infield turned two 4-to-6-to-3 double plays that had Chloë Saxton jumping into Peschek's arms in excited delight.

Montana will take everything it's accomplished through the season's first 29 games into the start of Big Sky Conference play next weekend at Weber State.

"Amazing," said Jantzi when asked about her feelings of this Montana team at this moment. "I feel like our confidence is up, our run production is up, our defense is playing great.

"It feels like we're one collective unit. Going into conference with this big win feels good."

Montana went up 1-0 in the first on Saturday when Jantzi led off with a double, then scored on Kelly Sweyer's RBI double to right-center.

The Grizzlies had two more doubles on Saturday, 13 for the series including a program-record eight in Friday's one-run loss to the Fighting Hawks.

Montana went up 2-0 in the third on a Peschek RBI single to left.

North Dakota got on the board in the fourth, getting to Rehbein and Montana for two runs to even the score, setting up Jantzi's dramatics in the bottom of the fourth.

North Dakota faced two runners on with two outs when the Fighting Hawks walked Montana's No. 9 hitter on five pitches, bringing Jantzi to the plate. Game over.

"She is a phenomenal hitter and continues to grow really on a daily basis," Meuchel said. "To see her put in that position, to watch her grow in her confidence and in her belief, it was a huge hit.

"Everybody in the dugout and in the stands know how well she is hitting and what she can do. To watch her teammates celebrate her and for her to celebrate what the team just did was really special."

North Dakota scored one more run in the top of the fifth to make it 7-3 before Montana added the game's final runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Jessica Stanfield.

The Grizzlies pounded out 10 hits, the sixth time in eight games they've had 10 or more. They had 10 or more hits just one time over their first 21 games of the season.

Montana batted .388 in the three-game series, .363 in its just completed nine-game home stand.

Rehbein pitched 4 2/3 innings on Saturday to improve to 6-3. Emmalyn Brinka threw the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing two hits.

Montana (12-17) and Weber State will play a three-game series in Ogden, Utah, next weekend, a doubleheader on Friday, a single game on Saturday as league play begins.