Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
No. 4 Montana
Wildcats top Grizzlies to open Big Sky tournament
5/13/2016 2:52:00 AM | Softball
OGDEN – Behind an impressive display of hitting power, the Wildcats moved on.
The Weber State University softball team rode 15 hits, including three home runs, to a 10-2 victory in six innings over Montana to open the 2016 Big Sky Conference Softball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Wildcat Softball Complex.
Weber State, which improved to 35-17 overall, will face Idaho State (27-21) at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday's Big Sky Conference tournament championship game through the winner's bracket.
Senior shortstop Aubrey Whitmer, the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year, senior third baseman Alyson Kulp, and sophomore catcher Molly Horne each went over the fence against the Grizzlies as the Wildcats opened up defense of their Big Sky tournament title.
Horne launched a towering two-run shot over as the second batter in the second inning and sophomore second baseman McKinley Brinkerhoff scored on an error to make it 3-0 after two.
Brinkerhoff had an RBI single to left field in the third to make it 4-0, before Montana led off the fourth with a solo home run and a bases-loaded RBI walk to get back within 4-2.
After freshman designated player JaeCie Wilson led off the fourth with a bunt single, Whitmer launched a two-run shot of her own over the 225-foot center field fence to make it 6-2.
Weber State took a 7-2 lead on an RBI single to center field by Brinkerhoff that scored senior outfielder Rudi Barrios, followed by a single to left field by junior center fielder Carley White.
With two on and two outs, up came Kulp, who smashed a 1-1 pitch over the wall at left field to bring in three runs and end the game an inning early on run rule.
The Big Sky Conference tournament gets back underway on Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., with No. 6 seed Portland State taking on Montana in an elimination game, followed by No. 2 seed Sacramento State vs. Southern Utah in the other elimination game at Noon.
The winners of Friday's first two games will meet at 5 p.m., following the Weber State vs. Idaho State game, with the loser eliminated, and the winner advancing to Saturday's action.
