Saturday, April 26
Missoula, Mont.
Noon
Montana
8-40, 1-14
2
vs
12
Sacramento State
25-21, 10-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Sacramento State
0
0
6
0
0
2
4
12
16
1
Montana
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
6
0
Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana
Griz drop finale, Big Sky Championship up next
4/26/2025 4:17:00 PM | Softball
The Montana softball team dropped its home and regular-season finale on Saturday, falling to Sacramento State 12-2 at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula.
The Hornets (25-21, 10-5 BSC), who finish second in the Big Sky Conference behind Idaho State, broke open what had been a tense and tight start to the game with a six-run top of the third.
Sacramento State, which batted .474 in the series with 24 extra-base hits, added two in the sixth and four in the seventh to improve to 32-6 all-time against the Grizzlies (8-40, 1-14 BSC).
Montana staved off what would have been its 17th run-rule loss of the season by scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double by Chloe Saxton.
Montana will take the No. 6 seed into the Big Sky Conference Championship, which opens on Tuesday, May 6, in Greeley, Colo.
The Grizzlies will open the tournament against No. 3 Weber State at 1:30 p.m. on May 6 at Northern Colorado's Gloria Rodriguez Field.
Montana went 0-3 against Weber State in the teams' regular-season series in Missoula, falling 11-2 in five innings, 6-2 and 4-3.
On Saturday in Missoula – Senior Day for the Grizzlies – Montana and Sacramento State opened with two well-played, sharp innings, with Siona Halwani getting the start for the Grizzlies.
In the top of the third, Halwani got a ground out, then what appeared to be an infield pop-up for what would have been the inning's second out with nobody on base.
But an illegal pitch call had been made, extending Jenna Birch's at-bat, and she took full advantage of the second chance, sending a full-count pitch over the fence in right to open the scoring.
That started a game-changing inning for the Hornets, who used a bases-loaded double to make it 4-0 and a two-run home run to go up 6-0 before the top of the third finally came to an end.
That would be plenty of support for starter Kennedie Magorian, who set down the first 10 batters she faced before Presley Jantzi got Montana's first hit of the game with a solid single to center in the fourth.
Jessica Stanfield added a double to right in the bottom of the fifth, but Montana needed runs, not just hits, to extend the game after Sacramento State went up 8-0 in the top of the sixth.
Jocelyn Eisen got the two-run rally started with a lead-off single to short left field. After Jantzi singled to short, Saxton doubled to the fence in right-center to make it 8-2 and extend the game to seven innings.
The Hornets, who hit a dozen home runs in the series and had 94 total bases in three games, used the extra at-bats to score four more times on a pair of home runs in the top of the seventh.
Halwani (2-8) took the loss after pitching 2 1/3 innings. Grace Haegele and Brianna Lachermeier both pitched in relief.
Playing their final games at Grizzly Softball Field, Jantzi and Stanfield both had a pair of hits.
The Hornets (25-21, 10-5 BSC), who finish second in the Big Sky Conference behind Idaho State, broke open what had been a tense and tight start to the game with a six-run top of the third.
Sacramento State, which batted .474 in the series with 24 extra-base hits, added two in the sixth and four in the seventh to improve to 32-6 all-time against the Grizzlies (8-40, 1-14 BSC).
Montana staved off what would have been its 17th run-rule loss of the season by scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double by Chloe Saxton.
Montana will take the No. 6 seed into the Big Sky Conference Championship, which opens on Tuesday, May 6, in Greeley, Colo.
The Grizzlies will open the tournament against No. 3 Weber State at 1:30 p.m. on May 6 at Northern Colorado's Gloria Rodriguez Field.
Montana went 0-3 against Weber State in the teams' regular-season series in Missoula, falling 11-2 in five innings, 6-2 and 4-3.
On Saturday in Missoula – Senior Day for the Grizzlies – Montana and Sacramento State opened with two well-played, sharp innings, with Siona Halwani getting the start for the Grizzlies.
In the top of the third, Halwani got a ground out, then what appeared to be an infield pop-up for what would have been the inning's second out with nobody on base.
But an illegal pitch call had been made, extending Jenna Birch's at-bat, and she took full advantage of the second chance, sending a full-count pitch over the fence in right to open the scoring.
That started a game-changing inning for the Hornets, who used a bases-loaded double to make it 4-0 and a two-run home run to go up 6-0 before the top of the third finally came to an end.
That would be plenty of support for starter Kennedie Magorian, who set down the first 10 batters she faced before Presley Jantzi got Montana's first hit of the game with a solid single to center in the fourth.
Jessica Stanfield added a double to right in the bottom of the fifth, but Montana needed runs, not just hits, to extend the game after Sacramento State went up 8-0 in the top of the sixth.
Jocelyn Eisen got the two-run rally started with a lead-off single to short left field. After Jantzi singled to short, Saxton doubled to the fence in right-center to make it 8-2 and extend the game to seven innings.
The Hornets, who hit a dozen home runs in the series and had 94 total bases in three games, used the extra at-bats to score four more times on a pair of home runs in the top of the seventh.
Halwani (2-8) took the loss after pitching 2 1/3 innings. Grace Haegele and Brianna Lachermeier both pitched in relief.
Playing their final games at Grizzly Softball Field, Jantzi and Stanfield both had a pair of hits.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Magorian, Kennedie (8-6)
L: Halwani, Siona (2-8)
Batting:
2B: Marsh, Katie 1 ; Lira, Andrea 1 ; Evers-Lyles, Madison 2 ; Brown, Avery 1
HR: Carino, Alexa 1 ; Evans, Caroline 1 ; Garcia, Shannon 1 ; Birch, Jenna 1
RBI: Marsh, Katie 1 ; Evers-Lyles, Madison 3 ; Carino, Alexa 2 ; Evans, Caroline 3 ; Garcia, Shannon 1 ; Brown, Avery 1 ; Birch, Jenna 1
SF: Marsh, Katie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Malepeai, Lafulafu 1 ; Marsh, Katie 1 ; Lira, Andrea 1 ; Evers-Lyles, Madison 2 ; Carino, Alexa 2 ; Evans, Caroline 1 ; Garcia, Shannon 1 ; Buckley, Addy 1 ; Brown, Avery 1 ; Birch, Jenna 1
SB: Evers-Lyles, Madison 1
CS: Malepeai, Lafulafu 1
Batting:
2B: Saxton, Chloe 1 ; Stanfield, Jessica 1
RBI: Saxton, Chloe 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Jantzi, Presley 1 ; Eisen, Jocelyn 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
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/ Softball
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/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
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/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
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