Lopez, Sweet honored by Big Sky

The Montana softball team, coming off a 6-0 week and an unbeaten start to its league schedule, was awarded the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

The Grizzlies swept Seattle in a three-game series at Grizzly Softball Field on Monday and Tuesday, then opened their Big Sky schedule with a series sweep of Portland State on Saturday and Sunday.

Grace Lopez, who missed the Seattle series but put up huge offensive numbers against the Vikings, was named the Big Sky co-Player of the Week, Montana's first since 2024.

Carah Sweet, who went 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA over four appearances and 17.0 innings, becomes the Grizzlies' first Big Sky Pitcher of the Week since 2022.

Montana's six-game winning streak is its longest since 2019. Its 3-0 start to league is its first since 2021.

Sweet got the week started with her first win as a Grizzly, in two innings of relief in the series opener against Seattle. She started Game 3 against the Redhawks, allowing one run over five innings.

She pitched a complete-game shutout against Portland State in Montana's 5-0 win in that series' opener, needing only 89 pitches over seven innings and 26 batters faced.

It was Montana's first complete-game shutout against a Division I opponent in more than two years.

She started Game 3 against Portland State as well and passed the ball off to Cameryn Ortega after three innings and Montana holding a 2-1 lead. The Grizzlies would go on to win 5-4.

"The works she's putting in in the bullpen to be really specific on what she wants to do with the ball has really benefitted her," said coach Stef Ewing. "She is trusting her process and really focusing on her spin.

"She's mixing her change-up, she's throwing her screw to multiple locations and she's putting the ball where she wants to put it."

Sweet has won her last three decisions while dropping her ERA from 5.85 on March 12 to 3.58.

"She's done a great job of setting up hitters and understanding how she wants to attack hitters," said Ewing. "She is just dealing.

"It's working for her and she's really confident right now. She wants the ball and is going to continue to get it."

Lopez went 13 for 23 in six games against Santa Clara and Pacific but had to miss the Seattle series.

Any concerns that the short break would cool off her bat were put to rest when she hit a lead-off home run in Game 1 against Portland State.

She would have 10 at-bats against the Vikings and reached base nine times, with six hits and three walks.

She has seven multiple-hit games in her last nine played and hasn't gone hitless in a game since March 13 while upping her season batting average to .438.

"The best way I can describe what Grace has done the last couple of weeks is put up video-game numbers," said Ewing. "She could be the cover of a video game. She has just been dialed in.

"The thing I'm most proud of is she missed a couple of games, so you always wonder if that's going to throw somebody off, take the flow off. It absolutely did not."

Lopez went 6 for 7 (.857) against Portland State, hitting three doubles and a home run. She had 12 total bases in seven at-bats, giving her a weekend slugging percentage of 1.714.

"I always say when hitters are hitting really well and things are hot, the ball looks like a beach ball. I'm sure for Grace, it's bigger than a beach ball. It's just good to be Grace," said Ewing.

"The information she's bringing back to her teammates after her at-bats is why you're seeing other players on our team being successful. She's been able to elevate her teammates."

Lopez went 10 for 17 (.588) at Montana's season-opening tournament at UC San Diego in early February and hasn't had her batting average dip below .341 as a sophomore.

She has 13 multiple-hit games this season and will take a nine-game hitting streak into this week's home series against Northern Colorado.

"The thing about Grace is she doesn't mishit balls. She squares it up every single time," said Ewing. "She's really seeing the ball and her pitch selection is outstanding.

"The kid works so hard and is so consistent and has been the rock for this team all year. You could go on and on about everything Grace has been for this team."

Montana sits alone atop the Big Sky standings after the opening week of league series. The Grizzlies will host Northern Colorado (16-19, 2-1 BSC) on Friday and Saturday.

University of Montana Athletics

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Grace Lopez

Cameryn Ortega

Carah Sweet

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