Bears hold off late rally from Montana to secure series sweep

Saturday, April 10

Greeley, Colo.

12:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

9-19, 0

Montana

9-24, 0

Montana

Northern Colorado

4/10/2021 2:30:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Northern Colorado sweeps Montana to jump up BIg Sky Standings

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – A hot start to Saturdays's series finale with Montana gave just enough cushion for Northern Colorado as they held off a late-charging Griz, 9-7, securing the sweep.

After a quiet opening inning, UNC put the pressure on in the second. Quickly loading the bases, the Bears had two outs before Lauren Strathearn stepped to the plate. The Broomfield native rocketed a ball to left field for a triple, clearing the bases and vaulting her team to a quick 3-0 lead.

In the very next at-bat, Mady Young swung on the first pitch she saw, doubled down the left-field line and brought home Strathearn in the process.

Though Montana squeezed across a run in the top of the third, Emma Brockmann had a swift answer.

UNC's sure-handed catcher launched one to dead-center. The two-run bomb gave the Bears its largest lead of the game at five.

M. Young wasn't quite done causing issues for the Griz. The senior racked up her second double of the day in the fourth inning to score Strathearn once more.

In the circle, Erin Caviness was moving and grooving. Her only major blemish came in the sixth inning when she gave up two runs on three hits. In total, Caviness pitched 6.1 innings and struck out four.

Dani Young added some insurance in the sixth inning, scoring M. Young on an RBI single to restore UNC's five-run lead.

Montana made things interesting pushing three runs across but Caviness, who had been replaced by Maggie Thurston, returned to shut on the door on the Griz, giving Northern Colorado the clean weekend sweep.

Game Notes
- Emma Brockmann launched her second home run of the year
- Mady Young her 9th and 10th doubles of the season.
- Lauren Strathearn tallied her third triple of the season.
- Dani Young extended her hitting streak to seven games.
- Erin Caviness notched her fifth win this year
- It was the Bears first sweep since April 2019 against Idaho State.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado returns to the road to face Weber State April 16-17. The Bears and Wildcats faced each other one in non-conference play with WSU winning 9-4.

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