Griz host Hornets as regular season concludes

The Montana softball team will play its final home games and wrap up its regular-season schedule this week with a three-game series against Sacramento State at Grizzly Softball Field.

The Grizzlies (8-37, 1-11 BSC) and Hornets (22-21, 7-5 BSC) will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m., then conclude the series with a game at noon on Saturday.

Saturday will double as Senior Day, with ceremonies for seven outgoing players taking place on the field after the game has concluded.

The Grizzlies won't play again until the opening round of the Big Sky Conference Championship, this year taking place at Gloria Rodriguez Field in Greeley, Colo.

Montana's first game at the tournament will be at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, against whichever Big Sky team ends up being the No. 3 seed. The Big Sky Championship is double-elimination.

Coverage: All three games of the Sacramento State series will stream on ESPN+ with Friday's doubleheader getting additional coverage on SWX.

At a glance (Montana): The Grizzlies traveled to Pocatello last week and faced the Big Sky's top team in Idaho State and returned home winless from the series after surrendering 37 runs over three games.

The Bengals, who hit .465 in the series with 74 total bases, won by scores of 17-8, 9-4 and 11-1, with Games 1 and 3 concluding in five innings.

Despite facing the Big Sky's top pitching staff, Montana put up eight runs in the opener, the Grizzlies' highest run production against a Division I opponent since Feb. 14.

Montana went up 1-0 in Game 2 on a Kynzie Mohl home run in the top of the second inning. That made it seven straight league games when the Grizzlies scored first. That streak came to an end in Game 3.

Montana hit a season-high three home runs in Game 1, then added two more in Game 2 on Friday. The Grizzlies entered the series with a dozen home runs on the season, returned home with 17.

The setbacks extended Montana's losing streak to six games. The Grizzlies are 1-22 in their last 23 games against Division I opponents.

Montana's season batting average rose slightly over the series at Idaho State, to .221, though that average still ranks last in the Big Sky and 295th nationally out of 300 NCAA Division I teams.

Idaho State's offensive output bumped Montana's ERA from 6.46 before the series to 7.04 after it was over. That ranks last in the Big Sky, 289th nationally.

Montana storylines:

* Saturday will be Senior Day for seven players who are graduating out of the program: Jocelyn Eisen, Grace Hardy, Hannah Jablonski, Presley Jantzi, Kynzie Mohl, Jessica Stanfield and Makena Strong.

Jantzi has been a four-year starter and ranks in the top 10 in program history in 15 statistical categories, including third in doubles (38), fifth in batting average (.340) and seventh in hits (174).

Jablonski has been a three-year starter at first base and ranks in the top 10 in five career categories, notably being tied for fifth in doubles (33) and tied for seventh in home runs (9).

Hardy started 51 games at third base as a sophomore and junior, and has started 11 games as a senior at the hot corner, but her biggest contribution to this year's team has been at pitcher.

She hadn't pitched since playing at Sentinel High but has made 17 appearances with four starts in the circle this season for a team that needed additional depth at the position.

Mohl's 35 career starts have come at catcher and designated player. She moved into the top 10 in program history in home runs at Idaho State with the eighth of her career.

Strong, last spring's UM President's Award winner for having the highest GPA among Montana's female student-athletes, graduates next month with a degree in communication studies after just three years.

In her three-year playing career, she has made 58 starts at five positions: first base, second base, left field, center field and right field. Her five doubles this season are tied for fourth on the team.

Eisen and Stanfield both transferred into the program, Eisen after two seasons at UNLV, Stanfield after one year at Yakima Valley College.

Eisen has made 65 starts the last two seasons, mostly at third base and designated player. Stanfield has been a regular starter in the outfield the last two seasons. She leads the team with four home runs.

* Montana entered its series at Idaho State with 12 home runs through its first 42 games of the season. In Friday's doubleheader at Pocatello, the Grizzlies hit five in two games.

The series opener was Montana's first three-home-run game since the 2022 season.

* Providing the power to Montana's home run numbers was senior Jessica Stanfield, who entered the Idaho State series with two home runs in her Griz career. She now has five.

She hit a two-run home run in the second inning in Game 1, then later added a solo home run in the fifth. Her three RBIs and three runs scored in the game were both career highs.

It was Montana's first two-home-run game since 2022, when Kelly Sweyer hit a pair against Providence (MT), the first against a Division I opponent since 2021, when Cami Sellers hit two against Grand Canyon.

Not done quite yet, Stanfield led off the fourth inning of Game 2 on Friday with a solo home run, her third home run in five plate appearances.

* With a record of 96-68 at Grizzly Softball Field and only three home games remaining, Montana will have to wait until next season to reach 100 wins at its home park.

The Grizzlies are 2-6 at home this season, those two wins coming against MSU Billings. Montana was swept in three-game series by Oregon State and Weber State.

In six losses against the Beavers and Wildcats, the Grizzlies scored just 12 runs, with a single-game high of only three.

* Anna Cockhill went without a stolen base at Idaho State but still leads the Big Sky with 25 steals in 29 attempts this season.

She is tied for 30th nationally in stolen bases, tied for 35th in stolen bases per game (0.56) and tied for 45th in percentage (.862).

* With a two-run home run in Game 1 at Idaho State on Friday, Hannah Jablonski moved into a tie for seventh in program history with Kelly Sweyer with her ninth career home run.

Jablonski is tied for fifth in program history in doubles (33) and most times being hit by a pitch (18).

* Kynzie Mohl's solo home run in Game 2 at Idaho State on Friday was the eighth of her career and moved her into the top 10 in program history. She is tied for ninth with four other players.

* Montana will be trying to win its first Big Sky series since the 2022 season when the Grizzlies host Sacramento State. Montana has dropped its last 18 series against league opponents.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets have been one of the Big Sky's most consistently strong teams over the years.

They claimed shares of the regular-season title in 2023 and '18, and have nine top-three finishes since
2014. The Hornets won the 2018 tournament title and twice have finished runner-up.

Sacramento State was picked fourth in this year's preseason poll. The Hornets enter the week tied for second with Weber State and in position to play for a first-round bye at the league tournament.

Sacramento State opened league with a home series loss to Idaho State, the Bengals winning the first two games 7-1 and 9-0 before the Hornets won 2-1 in Game 3.

Caroline Evans and Alexa Ortiz combined to hold high-powered Idaho State to a single run, an RBI double, on six hits in Sacramento State's 2-1 win.

The Hornets won two of three at Portland State, winning Games 1 and 2 by a combined score of 8-1 before the Vikings took the finale 4-3.

Two weekends ago, Sacramento State swept Northern Colorado at home, putting up 22 runs over three games.

Last weekend, the Hornets hosted Weber State and dropped two of three in a tight series that had both teams scoring 11 runs.

The Wildcats won Games 1 and 3 by scores of 4-3 and 6-4. The Hornets claimed Game 2 by a score of 4-1, with Kennedie Magorian throwing a complete-game, four-hit gem.

Traditionally enjoying one of the Big Sky's top pitching staffs, Sacramento State does so again, with three pitchers owning six wins and the staff holding an ERA of 4.04, with opponents batting .280 this season.

Danyelle Leone (3.03), Evans (3.11) and Ortiz (3.46) all have sub-3.5 ERAs, with Evans leading the Big Sky in strikeouts with 84.

Evans was first-team All-Big Sky last season at pitcher/utility. She is batting .318 this season with four home runs and is tied for fourth on the team with 22 RBIs.

Offensively, the Hornets are batting .290, second in the Big Sky behind only Idaho State. The team has 48 home runs, with five players having hit six or more.

Three players – Lafulafu Malepeai (.365), Andrea Lira (.358), Madison Evers-Lyles (.358) – are hitting better than .350 on the season. Lira and Evers-Lyles both have eight home runs.

Coach Lori Perez played at Sacramento State (1999-02), was an assistant from 2005-13 and has been the head coach since 2014.

Series history: No team has given Montana more trouble in the Grizzlies' history than Sacramento State, which has gone 29-6 against the Grizzlies.

Montana has lost 11 straight games against the Hornets, scoring just 17 runs in those 11 games, eight times scoring two or fewer runs.

The Grizzlies are 2-21 in their last 23 games against the Hornets dating back to the 2018 season, with six straight series losses. Montana's lone series win in nine tries against Sacramento State came in 2017.

Montana is 2-10 at home against Sacramento State. The Hornets have won eight straight over Montana at Grizzly Softball Field.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* With an 11-1 league record, Idaho State has already clinched the outright Big Sky regular-season championship. The Bengals are four games clear of the rest of the field with three to play for each team.

* Sacramento State and Weber State are tied for second at 7-5, with the Wildcats holding the head-to-head tiebreaker between those teams after winning two of three last week against the Hornets.

* Northern Colorado (5-6) is in fourth, Portland State (4-7) is in fifth. The Grizzlies (1-11) are in sixth and will finish sixth for the third consecutive season.

* Current NCAA RPIs for the Big Sky: Idaho State (102), Sacramento State (170), Weber State (187), Northern Colorado (219), Portland State (264), Montana (289).

* This week's series: Sacramento State at Montana, Northern Colorado at Weber State, Idaho State at Portland State.

Upcoming: Montana will take the No. 6 seed into the Big Sky Conference Championship, which will open on Tuesday, May 6, in Greeley, Colo.

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Players Mentioned

Anna Cockhill

Jocelyn Eisen

Grace Hardy

Hannah Jablonski

Presley Jantzi

Kynzie Mohl

Jessica Stanfield

Makena Strong

Kelly Sweyer

University of Montana Athletics