Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of
This is what she came for
4/24/2026 4:20:00 PM | Softball
It was 20 years ago next month that it took place, at the Oregon State softball complex, and the memory is as fresh in the mind of Montana softball coach Stef Ewing as if it happened last weekend.
It will stick with her forever. Some moments are like that.
Hosting a Super Regional against Cal, which had advanced to the previous seven Women's College World Series – juggernaut vs. upstart – Ewing and the Beavers dropped Game 1 as Kristina Thorson pitched the Golden Bears to a 2-1 victory.
Rain wiped out Saturday's game, forcing the teams to play a Sunday doubleheader, the opener on that day going head-to-head with the Oregon State baseball team's series finale against UCLA, fans flocking to Goss Stadium to watch a team that would, the next month in Omaha, win a national championship.
Three blocks away that Sunday afternoon, at the softball complex, Oregon State defeated Cal 3-0 to set up a winner-take-all Game 3, the Golden Bears trying to make their 11th all-time Women's College World Series appearance, the Beavers their first.
As the baseball game concluded, word started to spread around Goss. Softball forced a third game and could use our support. Let's get over there and do what we can do to aid the effort and make a difference. Some communities, where the home team is the biggest thing around, are like that.
They filled any remaining seats in the grandstand, then they filled the outfield, then they took up any available spots along the fence line, just to get a look, to both add to and to soak up the environment. Finally, with nowhere else to go, they made the bullpens standing-room-only.
Facing Thorson again, the Beavers used three hits in the bottom of the first to score what would be the game's only run. Top of the seventh, so tense: one out, two outs, three outs. The Beavers were World Series-bound for the first time in their history as what felt like all of Corvallis celebrated with them.
"That was one of the most incredible experiences I ever had as a student-athlete," said Ewing. "We did a lap around the field and high-fived every person who was there. Those are moments you'll never forget. The thought we could do that here this weekend?"
It's a question she leaves unanswered because she doesn't know quite what to expect on Saturday and Sunday, as Montana and Idaho State play for a Big Sky Conference championship, what would be the sixth for the Bengals, a first for the Grizzlies, so many similarities between 2006 and 2026.
But she heard about this special place, Missoula, Montana, from coaching peers when she applied for the open softball job with the Grizzlies less than two years ago. She felt it, saw it firsthand when she interviewed on campus, experienced the support that first fall, at her first home football weekend.
Missoula does spontaneous well when it comes to the Grizzlies, especially when a team creates an unexpected gift at an unexpected time, like this season, when the team picked for dead last by every other Big Sky coach has a chance to play for a championship at the end of the season.
It's like a Griz logo shows up on the side of Mount Sentinel – the Bat-Signal in Gotham – beckoning the faithful, rallying the curious, appealing to anyone who wants to be part of something that has the potential to be special, memorable.
Ewing was on her way home from a recruiting trip in November when she watched that very thing happen on her laptop, when more than 2,200 fans descended upon South Campus Stadium to watch Montana win a Big Sky soccer championship over Weber State in a shootout.
It was more than 2,200 fans making a difference, more than 2,200 fans leaving the facility with a memory they will hold for a very, very long time. Some communities are just like that, where teams are lifted up by the collective wills of their faithful followers, who then get just as much in return.
It's like 2006 all over again, the team that's been there and done that, was projected to do it again this season, against the team no one thought would be in this position, the speed bump for other teams turning into a mountain, pushed there by a coach who believes anything is possible.
"It's a cool feeling when the stadium is full. No one forgets it," said Ewing. "These kids will never forget that they got to play for a Big Sky championship at home this weekend.
"You kind of sleep with one eye open the night before, checking the alarm clock. Is it time yet? That's why you play, to be in these situations. Those are the fun stories to have." And memories that will never go away.
She was at Cal State San Marcos, a Division II school just north of San Diego, before she was at Montana and the softball was good: Super Regionals, World Series and Regionals her final three seasons, but all that success was largely celebrated within the campus borders.
"I definitely felt the support from the university but that's how San Diego is," said Ewing, whose program played in the shadow of San Diego State, San Diego and UC San Diego, plus had to compete with the Pacific Ocean and every other Southern Cal attraction, every other diversion.
Driving the other day with the radio on, she heard how Jason Brown had been named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year for men's tennis, how Tom Bittner and Kelsey Phillips were the tennis MVPs in the league. "That would never happen in San Diego," she said.
When it came to a new job, she wanted the find somewhere that could create that 2006 experience, where the college teams were the news of the day, where if one had a lot of success, attention would follow. Ewing's and some of her players' schedules this week have been dotted with interviews.
After sweeping Weber State on the road last week to pull even with Idaho State in the standings, setting up this weekend's perfect scene – two teams, head-to-head, the winner of the series wins the title – the local buzz, for the first time in nearly a decade, has been: softball, softball, softball.
"That kind of stuff is really special," said Ewing. "It's been a special week for all the kids in this program. There has been a lot more attention on them, which has been exciting. This is what you play for. You want to win and be recognized for it."
Most of this season was one step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, half a step back and on and on, getting there but slowly, a team mostly off the radar finding its way. But the coach kept emphasizing, we're close, we're so close.
And then it happened, going from close to we're there. A home sweep of Seattle and Portland State in the same week, a sweep last week at Weber State, giving Montana the only two sweeps in league play this season by any team.
It feels like this program is ahead of schedule, right? But who determines what that schedule is? Actually, they get to and they did, willing it to their plan, not somebody's else's.
"This may have surprised some people, but we've been talking about this since Day 1," said Ewing. "At the Meet the Team dinner, kids were talking about playing for a Big Sky championship.
"Being able to find their swag has been a big deal. There is so much about this team that reminds me of some of my San Marcos teams. It's confident, not cocky. When a team gets that moxie, it's really fun, and they've got it."
That, then, will be the battle this weekend, Montana's newfound confidence going up against a team with some well-deserved, hard-earned swag of its own, one that hasn't lost a Big Sky series in more than two years, that's won 12 straight league series.
That's the team the Grizzlies will need to beat twice, take the series from, the one that posted 37 runs in a three-game sweep of Montana in Pocatello last season, a victory in the finale affording the Bengals the right to dance with the trophy on their home field after having clinched the regular-season title.
In the visiting dugout, a team that was on its way to its second-consecutive 1-14 Big Sky finish had to see it and hear it as the players packed up their bags, a championship of their own feeling like it was years and years and years away, if it would ever come, if that day would ever arrive.
"We watched them bring the trophy out, watched them celebrate. There is no worse feeling in sports than that," said Ewing.
When Ewing was being recruited to play college softball, the top teams of the then Pac-10 were gods among the mortals, the conference winning 24 national championships in the sport between 1982 and 2011.
But it's Oregon State she chose. "Want to know why I went to Oregon State instead of Arizona or some other team in the Pac-10? Because there is no better feeling than beating the Yankees," she said.
It's why she's here, because she wanted to shepherd David into the fight against Goliath, hand him the tools to take down the giant. That is, until her program becomes the Goliath, which it will and that right soon.
But for now, for this weekend, she has the underdog, but she has the home-field advantage, which includes you should you be able to make it, and a team that's been preparing for this moment, that believes it can do what only they thought possible.
"We get the chance to do it at home for a trophy," said Ewing. "That's how you leave a mark. That's how you leave a legacy. This is what you play for." Memories await.
It will stick with her forever. Some moments are like that.
Hosting a Super Regional against Cal, which had advanced to the previous seven Women's College World Series – juggernaut vs. upstart – Ewing and the Beavers dropped Game 1 as Kristina Thorson pitched the Golden Bears to a 2-1 victory.
Rain wiped out Saturday's game, forcing the teams to play a Sunday doubleheader, the opener on that day going head-to-head with the Oregon State baseball team's series finale against UCLA, fans flocking to Goss Stadium to watch a team that would, the next month in Omaha, win a national championship.
Three blocks away that Sunday afternoon, at the softball complex, Oregon State defeated Cal 3-0 to set up a winner-take-all Game 3, the Golden Bears trying to make their 11th all-time Women's College World Series appearance, the Beavers their first.
As the baseball game concluded, word started to spread around Goss. Softball forced a third game and could use our support. Let's get over there and do what we can do to aid the effort and make a difference. Some communities, where the home team is the biggest thing around, are like that.
They filled any remaining seats in the grandstand, then they filled the outfield, then they took up any available spots along the fence line, just to get a look, to both add to and to soak up the environment. Finally, with nowhere else to go, they made the bullpens standing-room-only.
Facing Thorson again, the Beavers used three hits in the bottom of the first to score what would be the game's only run. Top of the seventh, so tense: one out, two outs, three outs. The Beavers were World Series-bound for the first time in their history as what felt like all of Corvallis celebrated with them.
"That was one of the most incredible experiences I ever had as a student-athlete," said Ewing. "We did a lap around the field and high-fived every person who was there. Those are moments you'll never forget. The thought we could do that here this weekend?"
It's a question she leaves unanswered because she doesn't know quite what to expect on Saturday and Sunday, as Montana and Idaho State play for a Big Sky Conference championship, what would be the sixth for the Bengals, a first for the Grizzlies, so many similarities between 2006 and 2026.
But she heard about this special place, Missoula, Montana, from coaching peers when she applied for the open softball job with the Grizzlies less than two years ago. She felt it, saw it firsthand when she interviewed on campus, experienced the support that first fall, at her first home football weekend.
Missoula does spontaneous well when it comes to the Grizzlies, especially when a team creates an unexpected gift at an unexpected time, like this season, when the team picked for dead last by every other Big Sky coach has a chance to play for a championship at the end of the season.
It's like a Griz logo shows up on the side of Mount Sentinel – the Bat-Signal in Gotham – beckoning the faithful, rallying the curious, appealing to anyone who wants to be part of something that has the potential to be special, memorable.
Ewing was on her way home from a recruiting trip in November when she watched that very thing happen on her laptop, when more than 2,200 fans descended upon South Campus Stadium to watch Montana win a Big Sky soccer championship over Weber State in a shootout.
It was more than 2,200 fans making a difference, more than 2,200 fans leaving the facility with a memory they will hold for a very, very long time. Some communities are just like that, where teams are lifted up by the collective wills of their faithful followers, who then get just as much in return.
It's like 2006 all over again, the team that's been there and done that, was projected to do it again this season, against the team no one thought would be in this position, the speed bump for other teams turning into a mountain, pushed there by a coach who believes anything is possible.
"It's a cool feeling when the stadium is full. No one forgets it," said Ewing. "These kids will never forget that they got to play for a Big Sky championship at home this weekend.
"You kind of sleep with one eye open the night before, checking the alarm clock. Is it time yet? That's why you play, to be in these situations. Those are the fun stories to have." And memories that will never go away.
She was at Cal State San Marcos, a Division II school just north of San Diego, before she was at Montana and the softball was good: Super Regionals, World Series and Regionals her final three seasons, but all that success was largely celebrated within the campus borders.
"I definitely felt the support from the university but that's how San Diego is," said Ewing, whose program played in the shadow of San Diego State, San Diego and UC San Diego, plus had to compete with the Pacific Ocean and every other Southern Cal attraction, every other diversion.
Driving the other day with the radio on, she heard how Jason Brown had been named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year for men's tennis, how Tom Bittner and Kelsey Phillips were the tennis MVPs in the league. "That would never happen in San Diego," she said.
When it came to a new job, she wanted the find somewhere that could create that 2006 experience, where the college teams were the news of the day, where if one had a lot of success, attention would follow. Ewing's and some of her players' schedules this week have been dotted with interviews.
After sweeping Weber State on the road last week to pull even with Idaho State in the standings, setting up this weekend's perfect scene – two teams, head-to-head, the winner of the series wins the title – the local buzz, for the first time in nearly a decade, has been: softball, softball, softball.
"That kind of stuff is really special," said Ewing. "It's been a special week for all the kids in this program. There has been a lot more attention on them, which has been exciting. This is what you play for. You want to win and be recognized for it."
Most of this season was one step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, half a step back and on and on, getting there but slowly, a team mostly off the radar finding its way. But the coach kept emphasizing, we're close, we're so close.
And then it happened, going from close to we're there. A home sweep of Seattle and Portland State in the same week, a sweep last week at Weber State, giving Montana the only two sweeps in league play this season by any team.
It feels like this program is ahead of schedule, right? But who determines what that schedule is? Actually, they get to and they did, willing it to their plan, not somebody's else's.
"This may have surprised some people, but we've been talking about this since Day 1," said Ewing. "At the Meet the Team dinner, kids were talking about playing for a Big Sky championship.
"Being able to find their swag has been a big deal. There is so much about this team that reminds me of some of my San Marcos teams. It's confident, not cocky. When a team gets that moxie, it's really fun, and they've got it."
That, then, will be the battle this weekend, Montana's newfound confidence going up against a team with some well-deserved, hard-earned swag of its own, one that hasn't lost a Big Sky series in more than two years, that's won 12 straight league series.
That's the team the Grizzlies will need to beat twice, take the series from, the one that posted 37 runs in a three-game sweep of Montana in Pocatello last season, a victory in the finale affording the Bengals the right to dance with the trophy on their home field after having clinched the regular-season title.
In the visiting dugout, a team that was on its way to its second-consecutive 1-14 Big Sky finish had to see it and hear it as the players packed up their bags, a championship of their own feeling like it was years and years and years away, if it would ever come, if that day would ever arrive.
"We watched them bring the trophy out, watched them celebrate. There is no worse feeling in sports than that," said Ewing.
When Ewing was being recruited to play college softball, the top teams of the then Pac-10 were gods among the mortals, the conference winning 24 national championships in the sport between 1982 and 2011.
But it's Oregon State she chose. "Want to know why I went to Oregon State instead of Arizona or some other team in the Pac-10? Because there is no better feeling than beating the Yankees," she said.
It's why she's here, because she wanted to shepherd David into the fight against Goliath, hand him the tools to take down the giant. That is, until her program becomes the Goliath, which it will and that right soon.
But for now, for this weekend, she has the underdog, but she has the home-field advantage, which includes you should you be able to make it, and a team that's been preparing for this moment, that believes it can do what only they thought possible.
"We get the chance to do it at home for a trophy," said Ewing. "That's how you leave a mark. That's how you leave a legacy. This is what you play for." Memories await.
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