University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, April 28
Greeley, CO
1 pm
University of Northern Colorado
25-23, 0
2
vs
3
Montana
23-26, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Montana
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
3
7
0
Northern Colorado
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
4
0
Recap: Senior Day for @bearssoftball, but Miss the Sweep on Montana
4/28/2018 5:21:00 PM | Softball
Northern Colorado dropped the series finale against the Grizzlies
GREELEY, Colo.- Northern Colorado softball dropped its game against Montana, 3-2, and missed a chance at the series sweep. UNC (25-23) played a good game, but could not come up with the big hit that they were able to do yesterday.
The game was a rematch of the pitching duel in the first game of series, with Valarie Vidal going against Colleen Driscoll. UNC started quick in the bottom of the first as Madi Schmidt drew a lead-off to give the Bears an early baserunner. After two ground outs, Schmidt was on third base and Lauren Paige brought her home with an RBI single. The Bears raced out to a 1-0 lead over the Grizzlies.
Montana would take the lead in the top of the third, scoring three runs on four hits against Vidal, who had shut them out yesterday. Jessica McAlister delivered the big hit with a double to center field that scored two runs.
UNC pulled within one run of the Grizzlies in the bottom of the fourth, with Rachel Johnson getting on base with a two-out walk. Mady Young would then triple to right field to score Johnson and the Bears were now down 3-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, was in business after Schmidt walked for the second time on the day and Sophia Taylor reached on fielder's choice. Paige was then hit by a pitch to load the base with two-outs in the inning. Emma Brockmann popped out to shortstop, ending the threat for the Grizzlies new pitcher Tristin Achenbach.
Vidal kept UNC in the game, retiring 10 Grizzly batters from third to sixth inning.
Now in the bottom of the seventh, UNC needed to score a run to tie and two for the win. Achenbach retired the Bears in order and Montana held on to the 3-2 win and avoided the sweep.
In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
On the Game
"I thought we competed well, especially defensively. I think it boiled down to that they did a good job executing and stringing together a couple of hits in the third inning and get all their runs. We had people on base almost every inning and we just didn't get those timely hits to get those runner home. We came up short this time, but we get a couple of those hits and we could of won the game."
On the Series Win
"Getting the series win is really huge for us. It gets us on the right track. All the teams in the Big Sky are similar so were all competing hard. It's good to get those wins and moves us closer to the Big Sky tournament."
On the Seniors Impact
"Senior Day is always a tough one, but the good news is we have several games. They've all had definitely had an individual impact on the program. Collectively set a new standard for leadership and work ethic. We're lucky and I'm glad to honor them today."
Lauren Paige
On the Game
"We left a lot of runners on base today. We had some good, hard hits that they ended up snagging with runners on. Nat had a great one down the line and we had a tough call on second base on a stolen base. A few things didn't go our way with runners on."
On the Series
"The whole weekend the team competed well and each game came down to the last inning or extra innings. We never gave up and put good swings on pitches. We want to control our destiny so I think we just need to play our best every game."
On her last home game
"This team and these girls mean everything to me. Getting to play with them on this field one last time was awesome. Seeing their hart and all the effort that they put in during the season is going to pay off at the end."
Notes
Up Next
Northern Colorado will travel to Ogden, UT for its final regular season series of the year against Weber State May 4th through May 5th.
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The game was a rematch of the pitching duel in the first game of series, with Valarie Vidal going against Colleen Driscoll. UNC started quick in the bottom of the first as Madi Schmidt drew a lead-off to give the Bears an early baserunner. After two ground outs, Schmidt was on third base and Lauren Paige brought her home with an RBI single. The Bears raced out to a 1-0 lead over the Grizzlies.
Montana would take the lead in the top of the third, scoring three runs on four hits against Vidal, who had shut them out yesterday. Jessica McAlister delivered the big hit with a double to center field that scored two runs.
UNC pulled within one run of the Grizzlies in the bottom of the fourth, with Rachel Johnson getting on base with a two-out walk. Mady Young would then triple to right field to score Johnson and the Bears were now down 3-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, was in business after Schmidt walked for the second time on the day and Sophia Taylor reached on fielder's choice. Paige was then hit by a pitch to load the base with two-outs in the inning. Emma Brockmann popped out to shortstop, ending the threat for the Grizzlies new pitcher Tristin Achenbach.
Vidal kept UNC in the game, retiring 10 Grizzly batters from third to sixth inning.
Now in the bottom of the seventh, UNC needed to score a run to tie and two for the win. Achenbach retired the Bears in order and Montana held on to the 3-2 win and avoided the sweep.
In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
On the Game
"I thought we competed well, especially defensively. I think it boiled down to that they did a good job executing and stringing together a couple of hits in the third inning and get all their runs. We had people on base almost every inning and we just didn't get those timely hits to get those runner home. We came up short this time, but we get a couple of those hits and we could of won the game."
On the Series Win
"Getting the series win is really huge for us. It gets us on the right track. All the teams in the Big Sky are similar so were all competing hard. It's good to get those wins and moves us closer to the Big Sky tournament."
On the Seniors Impact
"Senior Day is always a tough one, but the good news is we have several games. They've all had definitely had an individual impact on the program. Collectively set a new standard for leadership and work ethic. We're lucky and I'm glad to honor them today."
Lauren Paige
On the Game
"We left a lot of runners on base today. We had some good, hard hits that they ended up snagging with runners on. Nat had a great one down the line and we had a tough call on second base on a stolen base. A few things didn't go our way with runners on."
On the Series
"The whole weekend the team competed well and each game came down to the last inning or extra innings. We never gave up and put good swings on pitches. We want to control our destiny so I think we just need to play our best every game."
On her last home game
"This team and these girls mean everything to me. Getting to play with them on this field one last time was awesome. Seeing their hart and all the effort that they put in during the season is going to pay off at the end."
Notes
- Valerie Vidal finished the weekend with a 1.40 ERA in 15 innings pitched, while striking out 11 and walking two. Vidal earned her 16th win and now has 19 complete games after two this weekend, along with seven shutouts.
- Mady Young led the Bears in batting with a .375 average, including one double, one triple, and two RBIs.
- Madi Schmidt recorded a .333 batting average with two doubles, one RBI, and three runs scored.
- The series was close with UNC just outscoring Montana 11-10.
Up Next
Northern Colorado will travel to Ogden, UT for its final regular season series of the year against Weber State May 4th through May 5th.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Achenbach, Tristin (4-3)
L: Vidal, Valerie (16-9)
Batting:
2B: McAlister, Jessica 1
RBI: Saacke, Madison 1 ; McAlister, Jessica 2
Base Running:
RUNS: McGill, MaKenna 1 ; Colburn, Delene 1 ; Lyons, Ashlyn 1
Batting:
3B: Young, Mady 1
RBI: Paige, Lauren 1 ; Young, Mady 1
SH: Taylor, Sophia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schmidt, Madi 1 ; Johnson, Rachel 1
CS: Talmadge, Cheyenne 1
HBP: Paige, Lauren 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
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