Ladies and Gentlemen,
Montana Griz baseball is in full swing. The team is currently on a 12 game winning streak. They finished up a three game series against Eastern Washington earlier today. They looked good this weekend with some weaknesses here and there. In game one Hunter Day started on the mound for the Griz. He gave up a 2-run homerun that put the Eagles on top early. The Griz would come back to score two runs in the bottom of the first to tie up the game. After the first inning Day really began to settle down, and did not give up another run until the ninth inning. Meanwhile the Griz poured in on scoring three in the second and two in the third. They would not score again until the sixth inning. They scored one in the sixth to take an 8-2 lead. Following that they scored two more in the seventh to put the score at 10-2. This did not discourage the Eagles though. The Eagles came on strong in the ninth, scoring three runs. Hunter Day officially pitched 8 1/3 innings with 6 strikeouts and 3 earned runs. He was relieved in the ninth by Steve Attleberger a hard throwing lefty. Attleberger gave up 2 runs in the ninth to bring the Eagles total to 5. The Griz put an end to the scoring and finished the game with a final of 10-5. The Griz finished the game with 10 runs on 17 hits and 2 errors, next to the Eagles 5 runs on 8 hits and 4 errors. The player of the game was Brad Bell who went 3-4 with a triple, double and single only a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle.
In game two the Griz had Ryan Fowler starting on the mound. Fowler also gave up two runs in the top of the first inning. The Griz would then scratch and claw to score a run in the bottom of the first. The Eagles did not score in the top of the second, but the Griz came back with the bats and scored two more runs in the bottom of the second. The third inning became a little controversial. The Eagles scored 1 run in the top of the third. In the bottom half of the third the Griz would get to have runners on first and second with Cliff Stocker at the plate. Stocker hit a solid groundball between the third baseman and shortstop, which would bring Ryan Tacke home from second sending Cliff's brother Calvin to third. This is where the game became interesting. Calvin would be thrown out at third while Tacke was simultaneously scoring. The homeplate umpire would call Tacke safe giving the Griz a run while Calvin being thrown out at third was the third out of the inning. Eastern Washington's coach was very un-pleased with the cal at the plate. The umpire simply stated that the run counts. The game continued to get heated as the Griz continued to score. They scored two more in the fifth. The Eagles would score another run in the top of sixth. Both teams would not score another run the rest of the game. The Griz would go on the win with a final score of 6-4. The Griz had 6 runs on 10 hits and 1 error. The Eagles finished the game with 4 runs on 8 hits and 3 errors. The player of the game was Ryan Fowler for going all 7 innings giving up only 2 earned runs and three strikeouts.
This morning the Griz brought the bats early and often. Now the Eagles scored a run in the first, but that did not put fear in the Griz at all as they would score 6 runs in the bottom of the first. The first three batters of the game reached base. All three of which hit it to the shortstop, and all three ended with the shortstop booting the ball. Eric Ostrowski started on the mound for the Griz. He would then give up 2 runs in the second and third to bring the game within one. But in the bottom of the third the Griz would score three more runs to put the total at 9-5. At this point the Griz had 9 runs on 8 hits and 4 errors. The Eagles had 5 runs on 5 hits and 5 errors. All five of the errors committed but Eastern Washington were charged to their shortstop. The Eagles would score three more runs in the fourth before the Griz pulled Ostrowski to bring in Michael Albert. the Griz won the game by a final score of 9-8. The Griz had 9 runs on 11 hits and 4 errors, while the Eagles had 8 runs on 7 hits and 5 errors. The player of the game was Michael Albert for coming in and preserving the 1 run lead while pitching three innings of shut out baseball.
The Griz have been looking strong all season. They are currently 9-0 in conference with a 14-2 overall record. The only two losses of the season came in the season opening tournament, in Mesquite Nevada. They lost to Utah State University and Western Washington University. Both games only by two runs. This upcoming week the Griz are slated to face the Broncos of Boise State. This will be the final home stand of the season for the Griz. If you are in the Missoula are come out and watch next Saturday and Sunday. Game one starting at 3 pm Mountain Standard time. If you are not in the Missoula area, you can follow me on twitter @griznation99 for in game updates.
As always feel free to post comments and ask questions. Until next time, thank you for reading and GO GRIZ!
