DENVER – MSU Denver is looking to pick up where it left off at the end of last softball season.
 
After opening last season at 1-7, including a 1-4 home weekend to start the season, the Roadrunners rallied to finish 31-27 overall and placed fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 23-13. Then they finished third at the RMAC Tournament.
 
The Roadrunners were able to do that despite the slow start and despite going just 15-15 at the Regency Athletic Complex.
 
"We want to be better at home – that was a disappointment last year," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "And we want to get started right on our home field. We're focused on how we compete, where we need to get better and how we respond to any bumps in the road."
 
MSU Denver, picked to finish fourth in the RMAC, opens the season at home this weekend with a noon doubleheader against Humboldt State (Calif.) on Friday, a noon doubleheader against Sioux Falls (S.D.) on Saturday, and then a single game Sunday against Humboldt State at 11 a.m.
 
Sioux Falls is picked to finish eighth in the 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference after going 24-30 overall and finishing tied for ninth in the NSIC at 13-17 last year. Humboldt State, which four years ago played in the national championship series when MSU Denver hosted the NCAA Championships, is picked to finish ninth in the 11-team California Collegiate Athletic Association after going 21-29 and finishing ninth at 12-26 last year.
 
MSU Denver is hopeful of a solid opening weekend. The Roadrunners also went 1-4 in their opening weekend in 2018.
 
"The last couple of years, we've come out of the gate a little slow," Van Wetzinga said. "And it takes so long to dig out of that hole. I want us to capitalize on where we're at right now and start on a good note. It's easier to focus on getting better when you're not trying to catch up to everybody else."
 
The Roadrunners have a solid cast of returning players and a talented group of newcomers as they prepare to start the season.
 
Leading the way is senior two-way star Darby McGhee, an all-region selection who is the program's career leader with 302 strikeouts. Last season she was 13-11 with a 2.77 ERA while holding opponents to a .222 batting average (third-best in the RMAC) and recording 123 strikeouts (fifth in the RMAC). At the plate, she hit .332 with five homers and 39 RBIs while frequently hitting in the middle of the MSU Denver order. Oh, and she also played shortstop when not pitching.
 
Is there anything else she can do?
 
"She doesn't need to change a whole lot," Van Wetzinga said. "She's a senior, so you want her to relax and have fun. We'd like to see her be a little more efficient with her pitch count, but she's never going be super-efficient because part of her game is that she's effectively wild.
 
"We want her to continue to lead in her own way. She's never going to be the most vocal leader, but her presence in the circle is big and one-on-one she's a good leader, sharing knowledge and helping younger players.
 
"She was doing a lot last year, and she had kind of a (hitting) lull for a while, but that was the first year where she handled that much stuff – No. 1 pitcher, on the field all the time when she wasn't pitching, hitting in the middle of the lineup. But she worked through it pretty nicely."
 
Meanwhile, two of the program's top returning players are sophomores.
 
Outfielder Rebecca Gonzales was the RMAC's Freshman of the Year and an All-RMAC second team selection last season. She led MSU Denver with a .359 average, 69 hits and 20 doubles, and she was second on the team with 31 runs, 41 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. She also set MSU Denver freshman class records for at-bats (192), hits (69), and doubles (20), and her doubles total is tied for second in a single season in MSU Denver history.
 
And designated hitter Laney Sheppard was arguably the second-best freshman in the RMAC while also earning all-league second-team honors. She set the MSU Denver freshman class record for single-season homers with 13, ranking fifth in the RMAC, and she also led the team in RBIs (44), slugging percentage (.695, 10^th in the RMAC), on-base percentage (.442), OPS (1.137) and total bases (107) while batting .351.
 
"You don't want them to overthink it," Van Wetzinga said. "They had very good freshman years and they were impactful, but at the same time there's a lot of areas where they can get better. Laney came on really strong at the end, so were hopeful she can stay consistent with those mature at-bats. With Rebecca, we've seen more confidence and aggressiveness in the outfield and her arm consistency has improved. And she's gotten stronger and is swinging with more bat speed."
 
The most experienced areas of the team include the outfield (with Gonzales in right, senior center fielder Megan Sansburn and sophomore left fielder Ari Valdez, who took over as the starter the second half of last season) and the pitching staff of McGhee, sophomore Julia Heitz, junior Destinee Lopez and redshirt freshman Kayla Banks.
 
Sansburn hit .323 last year, and for her career has a .317 average while appearing in 158 games, including 127 as a starter.
 
"She's shown good leadership and is working hard, very consistent," Van Wetzinga said. "As a senior, you don't want her to try to do too much, you just want her to let the hard work she's done pay off. I think she could have a really good year. She's got deceiving pop in her bat, and she's got good speed."
 
When McGhee wasn't on the mound last year, Van Wetzinga usually turned to either Julia Heitz (10-6, 3.85 ERA) or Destinee Lopez (5-2, 3.72).
 
"Destinee settled into a really nice relief role for us," Van Wetzinga said. "She worked some big innings and did some good things. And Julia does have that experience, and had success as a freshman as a starter. She's kind of a gamer that way, has a lot of intangibles that you can't teach."
 
Banks is joining the mix this year.
 
"Pitching a strength for us," Van Wetzinga said. "We're legitimately four pitchers deep, not that they don't have areas to develop. And they complement each other really well. I don't think there are a lot of teams who can say, 'We have four pitchers we can trust to go into the circle.'"
 
Banks is also vying for playing time at first base with JJ Sheppard, Laney's twin sister, who hit .361 while appearing in 38 games, with 35 starts.
 
Meanwhile, at least two true freshmen are competing for starting roles in the infield as strong-armed speedster Olivia Dampier, Haley Doughty and Kamryn Leoffler have all impressed.
 
"My head is telling me to be more nervous than I am," Van Wetzinga said of the possibility of a youthful infield. "They're going to have freshman moments, but at the same time, they're really talented, they practice hard, they're coachable, we're high on them, and we trust them. We're confident putting them out there."
 
Junior college transfer Whitnee Alexander will at least split time at catcher with Laney Sheppard, who also plays third base and was the designated hitter most of last season.
 
"She's been doing some nice things," Van Wetzinga said of Alexander. "She's a natural leader and a lot of our girls have gravitated towards her because of her personality. She swings the bat hard, and the ball jumps off her bat."
 
Meanwhile, senior infielder Alyssa Richter adds plenty of experience and is also competing for playing time along with sophomore outfielder Kassi Reiger and freshman outfielder Emily Shreves.
 
Van Wetzinga said she'll experiment with different lineups early in the season.
 
"A strength of our team is that we have some good athletes who are flexible," Van Wetzinga said. "And we want to give people opportunities early."
 
The preseason preparation is done, and now it's time to go play.
 
"I think we're ready to play, and we need to play," Van Wetzinga said. "We've definitely hit the point where you don't totally know what you need to work on until it's live, game speed against another team. Their energy has been really good and they've been really consistent at practice, and they've been getting better."