Griz close road trip with 5-3 win

Sunday, March 15

Santa Clara, Calif.

Noon (MT)

Montana

5-19

Santa Clara

13-15

Montana

Santa Clara

3/15/2026 3:43:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana softball team wrapped up its six-game road trip to the Bay Area with a 5-3 win over West Coast Conference favorite Santa Clara on Sunday.

The Grizzlies (5-19) scored three times in the first, added two more in the third to go up 5-0, then rode strong pitching performances from Cameryn Ortega and Audri Elias to snap a 13-game losing streak.

"We played today like the team we know we can be," said coach Stef Ewing. "We talk about it all the time, to never get down and always believe. This group just continues to fight."

Montana went up 3-0 in the first on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch by JoJo Christiaens and a two-run single to center by Madison Tarrant.

Hailey Boer led off the second inning with a single, Anna Cockhill, Mackenzie Bekofsky and Chloe Saxton had three straight hits to start the third and Grace Lopez had a one-out single in the fourth.

Montana scored one run on 14 hits on Saturday as the Grizzlies dropped both games of a doubleheader. They scored five runs on nine hits on Sunday.

"We constantly put pressure on them. We had a lot of productive at-bats," said Ewing. "We talked yesterday about being able to move people and make things happen. The girls did that today."

Ortega didn't allow a run through the first four innings against a team that scored 17 runs over two games on Saturday.

She got a strikeout with two outs and two on in the first and snagged a line drive to end the second with the bases loaded. Santa Clara (13-15) left seven on base through the first four innings.

"Cam does a great job of staying composed. Her ability to do that has shown someone like Audri that you don't need to panic when the situation gets tense," said Ewing.

"She's shown tremendous maturity as a sophomore to be able to handle those situations. She was spinning it great today and getting a lot of mis-hit contact."

After Santa Clara turned two Montana errors through the first four Bronco batters of the fifth into their first run, Ewing was quick to high-five Ortega in the circle and turn the ball over to Elias.

Another Montana error would allow Santa Clara to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap to 5-3, but the Broncos would get no closer.

With a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Elias got a fly out and a ground out to keep it 5-3. She pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh for her first collegiate save.

"We made some mistakes today but we didn't panic," said Ewing. "When something doesn't go our way, we need to be able to flip the page and move on to the next pitch. We were able to do that today."

Cockhill and Lopez both had two hits, with Lopez finishing the three-game series 6 for 11. Bekofsky scored twice, Tarrant drove in two.

"That's a pretty good Santa Clara team," said Ewing. "Now we've got some momentum to head home for a long time. We're really excited to be able to play some home games in Montana."

The Grizzlies, who won't play another road game until April 10, will open a 14-game home stand when they host Pacific for a three-game series next Friday and Saturday.