Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Montana
Griz take two from 'Cats, title on line Saturday
5/7/2016 2:20:00 AM | Softball
MISSOULA, Mont. – The Wildcats headed north needing to win just one of three games in their Big Sky Conference series with the Grizzlies.
Despite a pair of heart-breaking setbacks by the Weber State University softball team on Friday, that final goal of winning the 2016 regular season Big Sky Conference championship and hosting the postseason tournament next week remains obtainable.
Montana won the opening game of Friday's doubleheader 5-2, staving off a late Wildcat rally, and then stunned Weber State with three two-out runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 5-4 in the nightcap.
Weber State fell to 14-5 in Big Sky play, 33-17 overall, and will face Montana (14-6 Big Sky, 27-24 overall) in a winner-take-all series finale at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Grizzly Softball Field.
With a win tomorrow, Weber State will secure the Big Sky Conference regular season title for the first time in school history, and will host the postseason tournament next week in Ogden. If Montana wins, the Grizzlies will claim at least a share of the title, with hosting rights to be determined by the series finale of the Sacramento State-Portland State game in Sacramento, Calif.
Perhaps the most painful part of Friday's game two loss was the fact that Wildcats took a 4-2 lead on two-run home run by junior right fielder Sara Hingsberger. It was her 12th longball of the season.
Weber State quickly recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the seventh, but Montana connected on four straight hits, winning the game on a double to right center.
