MISSOULA, Mont. - Seattle University softball (14-15) saw leads and ties in both games of Monday’s doubleheader against Montana (7-22) but could not complete go-ahead runs for the victories, falling 7-5 then 6-5 at Grizzly Softball Stadium.
Game One:
Graduate Jay Ross led the Redhawks with three hits in four at bats while pacing the team with two runs scored. All were season highs for the first baseman. On the defensive end, she led the team in putouts with five.
In addition to Ross, three more Redhawks recorded hits that went for extra bases, with senior Ava Sin tallying an RBI triple, while junior Mikee Morris and sophomore Abbie Fales each recorded doubles alongside Ross. False, Sin, Ross and junior Avari Morris made up the quartet of SU players with runs scored.
Sin aided the defense with four putouts from behind home plate, while both Morris’, Ross and senior Taylor Fitch picked up an assist.
Guiding from the circle was Avari Morris, who tossed all 6.0 innings of the game. She faced 30 batters and struck out five, holding Montana scoreless through two frames.
Montana leapt ahead early in the day behind a 3 RBI homer out of left field before Morris and the Redhawks maneuvered them away from scoring. Sin drafted her triple in the top of the third facing two outs to score Morris. Sin came in on the subsequent pitch, scoring off the Montana wild pitch to pull SU within a run.
Ross led off the fourth with a single before senior Brooklyn Jones advanced both Ross and Fales into scoring position with a sac bunt. Junior Sophia Kissling earned the RBI off the ground out that drew in Ross to level the contest 3-all in the fourth. Montana responded in the bottom of the fourth with an unearned run off a double.
The Grizzlies built their lead to two after the fifth with a sac fly before the Redhawks came back for the tie in the sixth. Ross led off with another single before Fales scored her with her RBI double. Kissling got on board with a single facing one out to get two runners on. Fales was scored from Mikee Morris’ sac fly to tie it for the second time 5-all. Montana came back with two runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth before halting SU’s comeback in the seventh to take game one 7-5.
Game Two:
Five Redhawks went for multiple hits with Mikee Morris and Fitch each posting three in game two. Morris recorded the first home run of the series for the Redhawks, while Sin tacked on two hits, both doubles. Fitch and Fales also recorded doubles in game two.
Jones rounded out the group with two hits on the day. Morris led the team with two runs alongside Sin.
Jones and Ross combined for nine putouts from the infield, with Ross leading the team with five. The outfield combined for five putouts. Jones, Spadafora, Fitch and Mikee Morris each tallied an assist.
Leading from the circle and earning the start was junior Berkley Vance. She pitched 5.0 innings of the contest and faced 22 batters. She struck out one while holding the Grizzlies scoreless through four frames. Freshman Kaia Galaviz pitched the final 1.2 innings. She faced 10 batters.
Mikee Morris led of the second game with a single before advancing to second for a stolen base. Avari moved Mikee to third with ground out before Fitch scored Mikee with her RBI single. Fitch stole second to get another Redhawk in scoring position as Sin sent out her RBI double to score Fitch. Spadafora advanced Sin to third with a ground out to short before a dropped strike throwing error on Ross allowed Sin to score to take the early lead 3-0 after the first. Vance and the Redhawks sent down Montana’s first three batters in the bottom of the first.
SU struck again in the top of the third with Sin leading off the inning with a double. Ross advanced Sin with a single through the right side before Fales scored Sin with a sac fly. After crafting another three up, three down inning in the bottom of the fourth, Montana broke through the shutout in the fifth, scoring four runs on five hits. Mikee Morris responded with the go-ahead homer in the top of the fifth before the Grizzlies tied the contest again in the bottom of the fifth.
The Redhawks grabbed two outs before the Grizzlies got a runner at third off an error in the infield. Down to its last strike, Montana scored the winning run off a single to edge out the Redhawks 6-5 in game two.
The Redhawks look to bounce back tomorrow in the series finale against Montana with the finale game at noon PT at Grizzly Softball Field.
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