Griz look to stay in hunt for Big Sky title

The Montana softball team, one game out of first place with two weekends of Big Sky Conference games remaining, will play its final road series of the season this week at Weber State.

The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 1 p.m. at Wildcat Softball Field in Ogden. Saturday's series finale is scheduled to start at noon.

Two games separate the top five teams in the league standings, two of those teams being the Grizzlies (15-28, 5-4 BSC) and the Wildcats (13-33, 4-5 BSC), making this a key series for both teams.

Preseason favorite Idaho State (6-3 BSC), which plays at Montana next week, sits atop the standings. Sacramento State and Northern Colorado are tied for second with the Grizzlies at 5-4.

Montana opened league with a three-game home sweep of Portland State, then went 1-2 against Northern Colorado at home and 1-2 last weekend on the road at Sacramento State.

The Grizzlies are 3-0 in Big Sky series openers. They outscored the Vikings, Bears and Hornets 24-6 in Game 1 of the teams' series.

Weber State went 1-2 at Idaho State, 1-2 against Sacramento State at home and took two of three from Portland State last weekend on the road.

The Wildcats won last year's Big Sky tournament and were picked second in this year's preseason poll.

Midweek tune-ups: Montana started its road trip with a doubleheader at Utah on Wednesday afternoon. The Grizzlies dropped both games, losing 7-3 and 7-0.

Montana built a 3-0 lead in the opener in the top of the second. The Utes tied it with a two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the second, then added a pair of two-run, two-out hits in the fourth.

All seven of Utah's runs in Game 1 were scored with two outs.

Two Utah pitchers limited the Grizzlies to three hits in Game 2 and combined for a dozen strikeouts. The Utes had six extra-base hits including two home runs.

Weber State hosted Utah State on Tuesday and lost 5-1, the Aggies getting two-run home runs in the first and seventh innings.

Another Big Sky nemesis: Montana snapped a 19-series Big Sky losing streak when it swept Portland State to open league.

The Grizzlies put an end to a nine-game losing streak against Northern Colorado with a Game 1 win over the Bears.

Last weekend against the Hornets, Montana ended a 14-game losing streak against Sacramento State with a Game 1 win, the Grizzlies' first over the Hornets at Shea Stadium since 2017.

Montana is 10-27 against Weber State and has lost 10 straight against the Wildcats and 14 of the teams' last 15 games.

The Grizzlies have lost to the Wildcats eight straight times in Ogden and haven't defeated Weber State on its home field since celebrating a Big Sky tournament championship in 2017.

Montana notes:

* Kailee Mejia extended her hitting streak to eight games with a single in both Games 1 and 2 at Utah on Wednesday.

It's Montana's fourth-longest hitting streak of the season behind Anna Cockhill (12), Grace Lopez (10) and Chloe Saxton (9).

* Mackenzie Bekofsky, hitting in the No. 9 spot, had her ninth multiple-hit game of the season in Game 1 on Wednesday.

* Jessica Cherms went 2 for 3 in Game 1 at Utah, her fourth multiple-hit game in Montana's last six games. Cherms has upped her batting average from .206 on March 28 to .275.

* Montana is 14-2 this season when holding its opponent to five or fewer runs, 1-26 when its opponent scores six or more.

* Hailey Boer had her first extra-base hit as a Grizzly when she doubled in Game 2 at Utah.

* JoJo Christiaens had a hit in both games at Utah. She has hit safely in seven of Montana's last eight games.

More on Weber State:

* The Wildcats have been the Big Sky's gold standard over the last decade-plus, winning or sharing six regular-season titles since 2016 and making five NCAA tournaments since 2015.

* Most of that success came under former coach Mary Kay Amicone. Her longtime assistant, Kristin Delahoussaye, took over last season and led the Wildcats to the Big Sky tournament title.

* Weber State finished third in the regular season but got rolling in Greeley at the Big Sky tournament, winning four games, including twice over No. 1 seed Idaho State.

* The Wildcats were picked second behind ISU in this year's preseason coaches' poll.

* Weber State had five players make the preseason All-Big Sky team, including three infielders: Sadie Kirk (2B), Abby Grundy (3B) and Taegan Smith (SS).

Pitcher Cali McCraw made the team, as did utility player Riley Whalen.

* It's been another player, sophomore Jordan McMahon, who has led the Wildcats offensively this season. She is batting .401 and has a Big Sky-best 63 hits.

* Weber State has near identical season stats compared to Montana. The Wildcats are batting .274 and have a 6.40 ERA. The Grizzlies are hitting .279 and have a 6.20 ERA.

* Montana has better power numbers, with 119 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .449. Weber State has 74 extra-base hits and a .372 slugging percentage.

* McCraw has five wins and the team's only sub-5.00 ERA at 4.98. Weber State pitchers have allowed 64 home runs this season, 10 more than any other Big Sky team.

* Weber State played Utah, Montana's Wednesday opponent, three times this season and lost three run-rule games by a combined score of 39-1. The Wildcats had just eight hits in three games.

* Weber State opened league by taking Game 3 at Idaho State after losing the first two. The Wildcats scored seven runs in the top of the first and held on to win 11-8.

* Weber State followed with a home series against Sacramento State and won the opener 5-2 behind a complete game by McCraw, who allowed three hits over seven innings.

* Last weekend at Portland State, Weber State won the first two games 3-2 in eight innings and 6-5. The Vikings won the finale 9-1 in six innings.

* The Wildcats are 3-6 at home this season.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* This week's highest-profile series is Sacramento State at Idaho State. The Hornets have the league's best pitching (2.77 ERA), the Bengals have the best offense (.318 average, 62 home runs).

* Northern Colorado plays a three-game series at Portland State. The Vikings are 2-7 in league but five of those seven losses have come by three runs or fewer.

Upcoming: Montana will wrap up the regular season with a home series against Idaho State next Saturday and Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Bekofsky

Hailey Boer

Jessica Cherms

JoJo Christiaens

Anna Cockhill

Grace Lopez

Kailee Mejia

Chloe Saxton

University of Montana Athletics