Mohl drives in 6, Griz get 1st league win

MISSOULA — Needing someone to step up after dropping the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader to Portland State at Grizzly Softball Field, Montana got it from both Grace Haegele and Kynzie Mohl.

With Haegele limiting the Vikings to four hits over five innings in the circle, Mohl supplied the power, hitting a three-run home run in Montana’s five-run third and a bases-loaded triple in the Grizzlies’ four-run fourth.

The five-inning run-rule win gave the Grizzlies (17-27, 1-10 BSC) their first Big Sky Conference victory of the season

After the Vikings won the opener 9-3, forcing three Griz pitchers to throw 171 pitches over seven innings, Haegele held Portland State in check as Montana won Game 2 by a score of 9-1.

Mohl joins elite company with her six RBIs, the most for a Montana hitter since 2017. Lexie Brenneis set the program record of seven against North Dakota in 2015. Delene Colburn drove in six on two occasions in 2017, and Sydney Stites did it once that season. 

That’s the list.

“People in front of Kynzie gave her the opportunity, then she stepped up and answered two times,” Coach Melanie Meuchel said of Mohl, who was playing in just her 11th game. “It gave us so much belief and trust in what we’ve been doing.”

The Vikings (17-20, 6-4 BSC) scored three times in the top of the first in Game 1 and never trailed as Montana’s hurlers threw 171 pitches.

Haegele set the tone from the start in Game 2, getting through the top of the first on 14 pitches.

After the Vikings went up 1-0 in the third, Riley Peschek tied it in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single to center. One batter later, Hannah Jablonski gave Montana its first lead of the day, 2-1, with an RBI double to right.

Two batters later, Mohl made it 5-1 with a three-run home run, her third of the season and fifth of her career. Her no-doubter to left was a pressure release.

“It really set us into ourselves and allowed us to have fun and still get the job done,” Mohl said.

Montana blew the game open in the fourth. Mohl came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, and immediately fell into a 0-2 hole.UM 

“My problem is when I get down in the count, I tend to tense up, so I kept telling myself to stay loose, stay calm,” she said. Mohl hit a deep fly ball to the fence in left-center that Portland State couldn’t track down.