The Montana softball team will travel to Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, this week for five games across two tournaments. The Grizzlies, who started the season with a 3-2 record after competing in the La Jolla Invitational at UC San Diego, are set to face No. 4 Oklahoma and New Mexico State on Friday at the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces.
On Saturday, Montana will play a doubleheader against UTEP as part of the Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament in El Paso. The weekend concludes with another matchup against New Mexico State on Sunday back in Las Cruces.
Montana’s first four games of the weekend—against Oklahoma, New Mexico State, and twice against UTEP—will be available for streaming on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided for all five games.
During their opening weekend at the La Jolla Invitational, Montana split games with Saint Louis and Wagner and secured a win over host UC San Diego. The team posted a .297 batting average over five games and recorded an ERA of 4.53. This marks an improvement from last season when they batted .227 with an ERA of 7.88.
In their first game against Saint Louis, Montana fell short despite JoJo Christiaens achieving her first multi-hit game and Grace Lopez scoring three times. The Grizzlies earned a close victory over Wagner before shutting out Saint Louis 9-0—their largest margin of victory in a Division I shutout to date. Anna Cockhill contributed significantly by driving in four runs and hitting two home runs.
Montana suffered a loss to Wagner but rebounded by defeating UC San Diego 10-5, with Grace Lopez going 4-for-5 at bat. The win marked the first time since 2022 that Montana finished its opening weekend above .500.
Several players made notable contributions during the tournament:
– Grace Lopez went 10-for-17 overall and was successful on all five stolen base attempts.
– Mackenzie Bekofsky improved her performance compared to last year by going 7-for-15.
– JoJo Christiaens hit three doubles after recording only three extra-base hits as a freshman.
– Anna Cockhill hit two home runs; Bekofsky added one more.
Montana’s pitching staff also showed progress by reducing its WHIP from 2.24 last season to 1.29 during opening weekend.
Historically, Montana has struggled against ranked opponents (1-20 all-time), with their only win coming against Arkansas in 2020. They have yet to defeat New Mexico State (0-4) or find consistent success against UTEP (1-3).
Oklahoma enters this week’s tournament having won eight national championships—including seven since 2013—and is currently ranked No. 4 nationally after starting their season with a series win over Arizona and Arizona State. Under coach Patty Gasso’s leadership, Oklahoma batted .376 through its first four games this year while hitting fifteen home runs.
New Mexico State opened its season at home with a balanced record but allowed more runs than it scored through six games. Benet Higgs is serving as interim head coach following Kathy Rodolph’s retirement after leading the Aggies for several years.
UTEP also began its season at home with three wins but has struggled defensively, allowing fifty-seven runs across six games.
After this week’s tournaments in New Mexico and Texas, Montana will continue its road schedule next week at Grand Canyon’s Purple Classic in Phoenix.
