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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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Montana will take the No. 6 seed into the Big Sky Conference Championship, which opens on Tuesday, May 6, in Greeley, Colo.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Halwani (2-8) took the loss after pitching 2 1/3 innings. Grace Haegele and Brianna Lachermeier both pitched in relief.
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Playing their final games at Grizzly Softball Field, Jantzi and Stanfield both had a pair of hits.
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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.
Â
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).
Â
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.
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Montana will take the No. 6 seed into the Big Sky Conference Championship, which opens on Tuesday, May 6, in Greeley, Colo.
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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.
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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.
Â
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.
Â
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.
Â
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.
Â
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.
Â
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Halwani (2-8) took the loss after pitching 2 1/3 innings. Grace Haegele and Brianna Lachermeier both pitched in relief.
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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
Hitting
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
P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
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/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
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