The Montana softball team completed its 14-game homestand with two wins against MSU Billings on April 7 at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula. The Grizzlies secured victories of 8-0 and 9-1, both ending in five innings, and finished the stretch with a record of nine wins and five losses.
The successful conclusion to the homestand marks a turnaround for Montana, which started its home schedule with three losses but then went on to win nine of its last eleven games. This recent run included series sweeps over Seattle and Portland State.
Second-year head coach Stef Ewing said, “This shows the maturity of our team. We came in with the expectation that we’d take two, get in and get out, and we did that. It shows we’re moving along.” Ewing praised pitcher Cameryn Ortega’s performance after she limited MSU Billings to four hits over five innings in Game 1: “We wanted to get Cam going. She’s been our rock all season. We knew (her recent outings) were just a blip and that she was going to come back from it. We need her to just be her. I love the way she threw today.”
Anna Cockhill hit a solo home run in Game 1, extending her hitting streak to twelve games before it ended later in Game 2. Freshman Kailee Mejia also contributed her first collegiate home run as part of a strong offensive showing for Montana.
JoJo Christiaens led the offense in Game 2 with a three-run homer as part of six runs scored by Montana in the first inning. Ewing said about expanding the team’s batting depth: “Being able to lengthen the line-up has been huge for us. You have to be able to put pressure on pitchers no matter the inning or what part of the line-up you’re in.” She also noted growing leadership among players: “The best teams are player-led and this team is becoming player-led… We’re doing things good teams do.”
Pitchers Carah Sweet and Audri Elias shared duties during Game 2, helping limit MSU Billings’ scoring opportunities.
Looking ahead, Montana will return to conference play tied for first place in Big Sky standings through two weekends of series at four wins and two losses each. The Grizzlies will travel next for matchups against Sacramento State this week followed by games at Utah and Weber State next week.
Ewing reflected on their progress: “We were so close earlier this season. It just took one or two breaks and I knew this team would catch fire… Now we get right back into conference play. We have a great opportunity this weekend to continue what we’re doing.”
