DENVER – The start of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play is upon us, as MSU Denver plays host to both Colorado Christian and New Mexico Highlands on Friday and Saturday at the Regency Athletic Complex.
 
"I don't know if anything really changes, and really the first few weekends (of conference play) we have the pods, so we're seeing two different teams and not playing a four-game series," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "In a four-game series, you're seeing the same team over and over, so it's more likely you'll have to make adjustments."
 
There have been some changes and adjustments ahead of this weekend's schedule, of course, as first the location was changed from Colorado Christian to MSU Denver, and then the weekend was moved up by a day to stay ahead of snow in the forecast for Sunday.
 
MSU Denver (8-4), picked to finish fourth in the RMAC, plays Colorado Christian (10-5 and picked third) at 11 a.m. Friday, and then faces New Mexico Highlands (1-11 and picked last among 13 teams) at 1 p.m.
 
On Saturday, the Roadrunners face New Mexico Highlands at 1 p.m. and Colorado Christian at 3 p.m.
 
Highlands and Colorado Christian square off against one another on Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
MSU Denver has been off since losing a doubleheader to defending national champions and then-No. 1 Augustana on Feb. 14.
 
The Roadrunners were locked into a classic, scoreless pitcher's duel before Augustana emerged with a 2-0, 11-inning win in the opener. MSU Denver then had multiple uncharacteristic fielding errors in losing 13-1 in the nightcap.
 
Despite an off hitting day against two premier Division II pitchers, including All-American Ashley Mickschl, MSU Denver still leads the RMAC in hitting (.328), home runs (15), home runs per game (1.25), on-base percentage (.422), runs per game (7.1), slugging percentage (.549), triples (five) and walks (52).
 
Nationally the Roadrunners are fifth in homers, 10^th in homers per game, 10^th in walks, 14^th in triples, 15^th in slugging percentage, 17^th in runs (85), 24^th in on-base percentage, 25^th in hits (110), 28^th in doubles (19), 28^th in runs per game, 28^th in triples per game (0.4), 40^th in batting average, 61^st in stolen bases (15) and 65^th in doubles per game (1.6).
 
Laney Sheppard still leads the country in homers (five) and RBIs (23), while Olivia Dampier is second in the RMAC (and eighth nationally) in RBIs (17) and leads the RMAC in stolen bases (six).
 
"The first game (against Augustana) was tight and tough, but then the second game was rough," Van Wetzinga said. "And it stinks that we've been sitting on that for a while. We've talked about areas to improve, but we also don't want to forget that we've done a lot of good things already this year, so don't let that derail us, let it be a motivator for us to take the next step. That's important, especially for younger players.
 
"You always want to have the drive and urgency to improve, which we definitely need, but we shouldn't be overwhelmed. It's only February. We have all of March, and all of April, still to go. There's still a long haul in front of us. Little steps. Get a little better each day."
 
Starters Darby McGhee and Kayla Banks, and reliever Destinee Lopez, all pitched well against Augustana. McGhee twirled 7 2/3 shutout innings against the Vikings, then Lopez followed with three more scoreless innings before a two-out walk and a two-run homer in the 11^th decided it.
 
Banks deserved a better fate in the nightcap. She was charged with 12 runs, but only two were earned because of fielding miscues.
 
McGhee, an all-region selection last year who is MSU Denver's all-time leader in strikeouts, is 1-0 with a 4.48 ERA. Banks is 4-1 with a 3.66 ERA, and Lopez is 2-2 with a 6.59 ERA.
 
"We know what Darby is capable of doing," Van Wetzinga said. "Maybe she got out of the gates a little slow, but she's really turned it around and I like where she's at right now. Kayla is a ground-ball pitcher and did a nice job of it (against Augustana). She keeps teams off-balance. Destinee is a great change of pace from both of them, because all three of them attack hitters differently."