DENVER – The saints come marching in this weekend.
 
The MSU Denver softball team plays host to doubleheaders at noon Saturday against St. Mary's (Texas) and at 11 a.m. Sunday against St. Edward's (Texas) at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
"It's kind of a big deal to have Texas teams coming up here to play us in February, which is nice," Van Wetzinga said. "The temperature is going to be in the 50s, and we're excited about that."
 
MSU Denver, 6-3, is coming off an outstanding showing at last weekend's high-level Desert Stinger Tournament, with three straight wins against quality competition.
 
"We finished last weekend really strong," Van Wetzinga said. "Day two and day three looked more like what we know we can look like. Our goal is to go from there and continue to build, and not have steps backwards."
 
St. Mary's and St. Edward's, picked to finish 10^th and 11^th, respectively, in the Lone Star Conference, are both off to good starts. St. Mary's is 10-2, while St. Edward's takes a 4-1 record into a Saturday doubleheader at Regis.
 
St. Mary's is coming off a 21-23 season, but the Rattlers lost 13 games by two runs or less and another in extra innings.
 
"St. Mary's is traditionally a really strong program," Van Wetzinga said. "Last year, for them, was a down year. But if you look at their scores from last year, they lost a ton of close games to a lot of good teams. They were right there in most games, and sometimes you just have years like that.
 
"So they're going to be good. And they're off to a good start. They've got a couple of really solid players returning. It's going to be a challenge. But if we can just be consistent – consistent energy, consistent focus, consistent approach at the plate and in the circle – we'll feel good about ourselves."
 
Meanwhile MSU Denver has gotten solid contributions from multiple players, returning and new, is its solid start.
 
The includes Sarah Norton the junior college transfer who has earned Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the season. Norton is 3-1 with one save and a 2.41 ERA in 32 innings.
 
"We knew she was talented," Van Wetzinga said. "She threw in a tough junior college league and saw good competition, so I knew she had been exposed to a good level of softball. And in the fall we saw her in competition and we liked the way she was carrying herself.
 
"She's a competitor out there. She wants the ball. She's got really good energy and you can see her connected with her teammates – and I love that. I think that carries over to her success. She's competing and I think she likes to be in the middle of it."
 
MSU Denver, picked third in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has been able to mix and match its starting lineups around Norton and fellow pitcher Destinee Lopez while batting .303 as a team.
 
Being there, for the numbers, include: true freshman shortstop Hannah DiFabio at .481 (13-for-27) with three homers and eight RBIs, transfer Miah Hartvigsen hitting .412 (7-for-17), veteran second baseman Ari Valdez hitting .368, true freshman Katie Maney hitting .333 with two homers, second-year freshman Mackenzie Jamieson also at .333 and returning All-American Shelby Robb, a second-year freshman, batting .323.
 
"We've said all year that the strength of our team is our depth," Van Wetzinga said. "We can have a little fun with the lineup, do some rotations, try a hot hand or make a switch if someone is struggling and then go back to a defensive switch. It's really nice. We're athletic and we're versatile."