Griz return to the diamond

The Montana softball team will return to action this weekend when it plays a three-game series at San Diego on Saturday and Sunday.

The series is part of a scheduling agreement between the Big Sky Conference and West Coast Conference. Oregon State, of the WCC, will play a series in Missoula next weekend.

The Grizzlies (5-18) and Toreros (11-16) will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 3 p.m. (MT), then conclude the series with a game on Sunday at 1 p.m. (MT).

The games will be played at Del Norte High School.

Coverage: The games will not have any video coverage but can be tracked through live stats.

Home games upcoming: After 26 games on the road to start the season, Montana will play its home openers on Wednesday when it hosts MSU Billings at noon in a doubleheader at Grizzly Softball Field.

Montana will then host Oregon State in a three-game series this weekend, with games on Friday (3 p.m.), Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.).

Next week's games will be five of the Grizzlies' 11 home games this season. Montana next month will host three-game series against Weber State and Sacramento State.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies will go into their series at San Diego with a record of 5-18 after going 0-3 last weekend at the Black and Orange Classic in Pocatello, Idaho.

Montana lost twice against Washington, a team now 20-7 and on a 14-game winning streak, and once against Boise State, a team now 19-6 and leading the nation in runs scored.

In their first game against Washington on Saturday, the Grizzlies got out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and were in a 2-2 game going to the fourth.

The Huskies scored four times in the bottom of the fourth, once more in the bottom of the sixth to build a 7-2 lead.

Montana had just one hit through the game's first six innings but pounded out five hits in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs to pull within 7-5. The game ended with the tying run on base.

Anna Cockhill had two hits and scored twice. Brianna Lachermeier got the start and worked 3 1/3 innings. Cameryn Ortega threw the final 2 2/3 innings.

Washington had a more comfortable victory on Sunday morning as Oregon transfer Stevie Hansen improved to 5-0 on the season with a five-inning perfect game.

It was the first perfect game thrown by an opposing pitcher against the Grizzlies in their history, the eighth no-hitter.

Grace Haegele got the start against the Huskies, her first appearance of the season, and didn't allow a hit in the first inning before running into trouble in the second.

Washington scored six runs on seven hits in the inning against two Montana pitchers. Siona Halwani threw the final 3 1/3 innings.

Facing Boise State in its next game, Montana fell behind the Broncos 5-0 in the top of the second.

The Grizzlies scored once in the bottom of the second when Madison Tarrant connected for her first career home run, then added two more in the bottom of the third to pull within 5-3.

Anna Cockhill had an RBI triple, the first three-bagger of her collegiate career. She later scored on an RBI single by Sveva Sweeney. Montana would not have any more hits in the game after Sweeney's.

Boise State went up 6-3 in the top of the fifth, then added three more in the seventh. Seven of the Broncos' nine runs came on three home runs. Boise State is tied for fifth nationally in home runs.

Lachermeier and Ortega split the innings for Montana.

Cockhill was successful in her only stolen base attempt at the Black and Orange Classic. She is 13 for 14 this season. The Montana single-season record is 18, set by Gabby Martinez in 2015.

The Grizzlies batted .147 in Pocatello, with Cockhill going 3 for 9, Sweeney 2 for 7. They were the only two players with multiple hits. Sweeney, with two, was the only player with multiple RBIs.

That dropped Montana's season batting average to .228, which ranks 270th nationally. The Grizzlies' ERA went from 7.06 to 7.42 over three games in Pocatello, which ranks 284th.

At a glance (San Diego): The Toreros went 18-38 last season and tied for last in the WCC with a 6-10 league record.

San Diego was picked fifth out of six teams in this year's poll, behind Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount, Oregon State and Santa Clara.

USD was picked ahead of Pacific, which twice defeated Montana this season in Bakersfield, Calif., 5-3 and 9-0.

San Diego showed its potential on opening weekend in San Marcos, Texas, falling to Arkansas 2-1. The Razorbacks are now 20-3. It was the closest margin of their 20 wins this season.

The Toreros have wins this season over Big Sky opponents Weber State and Portland State and last weekend went 2-2 at Grand Canyon's tournament, with wins over UNLV and Utah State.

Junior utility player Taylor Johnson and junior left-handed pitcher Kelsey Tadlock were named the WCC Player and Pitcher of the Week on Monday for their performances.

For the season San Diego is batting .284 and has out-hit its 27 opponents 211 to 203. USD has an ERA of 4.33 with 52 extra-base hits allowed, including 18 home runs.

Fifth-year coach MJ Knighten, a former All-American at Nebraska, is in her fifth year. She is the youngest active Division I head coach, graduating from Nebraska in 2017.

Series history: Montana and San Diego have played four times, with the Toreros going 3-1 against the Grizzlies.

The teams met twice in Montana's first season of 2015, USD winning 5-3 at home before Montana won 11-5 the next day, the first win in program history.

The teams met twice on San Diego State's home field in 2023, USD winning 12-0 and 11-0.

Upcoming: Home games. At last.

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Players Mentioned

Anna Cockhill

Grace Haegele

Siona Halwani

Brianna Lachermeier

Cameryn Ortega

Sveva Sweeney

Madison Tarrant

University of Montana Athletics