Griz to be challenged at Purple Classic

Friday, February 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

11:30 AM

Montana

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: JEREMY WAMBUGU

2/19/2026 12:41:00 PM | Softball

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team will play its third tournament in three weekends to open the season when the Grizzlies travel to Phoenix this week to play in Grand Canyon's Purple Classic.

Four of Montana's five games will come against teams that played in the NCAA tournament last spring.

The Grizzlies, off to a 4-6 start through two weekends of games, will play UC Santa Barbara, Grand Canyon twice, San Diego and North Florida.

Grand Canyon and North Florida are the top two teams sitting outside the top 25 – essentially No. 26 and 27 – in this week's NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The schedule:

Friday, 11:30 a.m. – vs. UC Santa Barbara
Friday, 5 p.m. – at Grand Canyon
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – vs. San Diego
Sunday, 9 a.m. – vs. North Florida
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. – at Grand Canyon

Coverage: Montana's two games against Grand Canyon will stream on TheMW.com. All five games can be tracked through live stats.

Opponent bona fides: UC Santa Barbara made the NCAA tournament last season and won a pair of games, against Arizona State and San Diego State. … Grand Canyon, which has won 47, 50 and 47 games the last three seasons and has played in four straight NCAA tournaments, is off to a 10-0 start this season. … San Diego has five wins through two weekends. … North Florida, which won 47 games last season and won two games in the NCAA tournament, is off to an 11-3 start.

Montana notes:

* The Grizzlies went 1-4 at a pair of tournaments last weekend, capping their trip to Las Cruces, N.M., and El Paso, Texas, with an 8-5 victory over New Mexico State on Sunday on the Aggies' home field.

* Montana opened play with a 17-0, five-inning loss to No. 4 Oklahoma on Friday. The Sooners would go on to post 18 runs against New Mexico State, then wrap up their trip with a 34-0 win at UTEP.

* In Montana's 8-3 loss at New Mexico State on Friday, Anna Cockhill hit a three-run home run, her third of the season through then seven games.

* On Saturday, Montana lost both games of a doubleheader at UTEP, 15-14 in eight innings and 5-4.

* In Game 1, the Grizzlies trailed 10-4 after three innings, 12-7 after five before scoring seven straight runs. Montana was one out away in the bottom of the seventh from a 14-12 win before a two-run triple sent the game to extra innings. The Aggies won it with a run in the bottom of the eighth.

* Montana fell behind 5-1 in Game 2 but pulled within a run, 5-4, in the top of the seventh and had the tying run on base.

* Sunday's win over New Mexico State was Montana's first over the Aggies in the teams' six all-time meetings.

* Montana went up 2-0 in the top of the first, 5-2 in the top of the second on a Kaci Kiblen three-run home run, then scored the game's final three runs after NMSU tied it at 5-5 in the second.

* Kaiana Kong came on in relief in the bottom of the third and pitched five scoreless innings to collect her second win of the season.

* Cockhill went 9 for 16 (.563) over five games, with a double, a triple and a home run. She drove in six and scored five times.

* Cockhill was named to the Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament All-Tournament team for her two-game performance against UTEP (4 for 8, two runs scored, two runs batted in).

* Montana hit five home runs over five games, with Grace Lopez, Jessica Cherms and Kaci Kiblen all hitting their first collegiate home runs.

* The Grizzlies have hit eight home runs through 10 games. They hit 20 last season in 50 games.

* Mackenzie Bekofsky has reached base all 10 games this season and is batting a team-leading .393. She has had at least one hit in eight of Montana's first 10 games.

* Cockhill had multiple hits in Montana's final four games last week and has a team-leading five multiple-hit games this season.

* Montana ranks third in the Big Sky in team batting average (.286). Montana has four of the Big Sky's top 14 averages: Bekofsky (.393), Cockhill (.382), Chloe Saxton (.381) and Lopez (.361).

* Montana leads the Big Sky in runs scored (59) and hits (80). The Grizzlies' 29 extra-base hits rank second in the Big Sky behind Sacramento State's 30.

* Lopez is tied for the Big Sky lead in runs scored (9), Lopez and Cockhill are tied for the league lead in hits (13), Cockhill is tied for the league lead in RBIs (12), Lopez leads the Big Sky in stolen bases (6).

* Montana has allowed 39 runs in the first two innings through 10 games, 34 from the third inning on.

* Freshman Danielle Biehl had her first career hit, a double, in Game 1 at UTEP. … Freshman pitcher Brooklynn Braun made her collegiate debut against Oklahoma. She worked two innings against the Sooners. … Freshman Audri Elias has made a team-high five starts this season. … Freshman Gracyn Graviette made her collegiate debut behind the plate in Game 2 at UTEP. … Freshman Kaci Kiblen went to El Paso with one collegiate RBI. She drove in four in Game 1 against the Miners, then had three more RBIs on Sunday against New Mexico State.

Upcoming: Montana will be off from games next week. The Grizzlies will resume their season with a four-game series at Seattle on March 6-8.