DENVER – An MSU Denver softball team concerned about a late-season slump against quality teams suddenly finds itself in pretty solid shape heading into the final week of the regular season.
 
The Roadrunners are ranked 10^th in the South Central Region prior to a four-game home series this weekend against New Mexico Highlands. Doubleheaders at the Assembly Athletic Complex are scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.
 
"That's a big step for us," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said of the regional ranking. "It's important for our girls to see how close we are. You look back at past opportunities, and you don't want to dwell on it, but it's really a weekend or two and we're right in the mix of things. That's good for a young team to realize that."
 
Champions of the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conference tournaments earn automatic berths to the South Central Regional, which serves as the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The rest of the eight-team field includes at-large teams selected based on the final regional rankings.
 
But MSU Denver, 30-19 overall and 26-12 for second place in the RMAC, wants to maintain all its focus on New Mexico Highlands, a much-improved team that is 19-28 overall and 15-24 in league play.
 
The Cowgirls have gone 5-3 over their last eight games against teams that MSU Denver was 2-4 against, and prior to that played very close series with the likes of Regis and ninth-ranked Colorado Christian, despite going 0-8, and split also a four-game series with Chadron State.
 
"They've been playing teams tough," Van Wetzinga said. "Their series against CCU was all close, low-scoring games. They just split with (Colorado School of) Mines last weekend. It sounds like a cliché, but if you don't show up, it doesn't matter what someone's record is, a team can beat you."
 
MSU Denver is coming off a four-game series sweep at Regis that has given it the inside track for the second of two first-round byes for the six-team, double-elimination RMAC Tournament.
 
"We had a really good weekend and put a lot of elements together," Van Wetzinga said. "I want us to continue that momentum.
 
"From the get-go, we weren't hoping things were going to go well, we kind of went out there with the attitude of setting the tone and controlling the energy of the games. When you do that, the ball bounces your way more. I do believe that you can control your luck based on how you attack situations."
 
Audrey Burt was outstanding in the circle, pitching 14 innings and allowing only one run (unearned) while pitching two complete-game victories.
 
"She had a really good weekend, and she was competitive (the prior week) against CCU as well," Van Wetzinga said. "She was working through some injury stuff, and it feels like she's getting back into a groove and feeling more confident in the circle."
 
Freshman Jenna Medhus continued to star both in the circle and at the plate, where she had two homers and nine RBIs. For the season Medhus is 11-4 with a 2.82 ERA while pitching and is batting .346 with eight homers and 24 RBIs, numbers that seem worthy of RMAC Freshman of the Year consideration.
 
"It's tough to beat the combination of what she's done hitting and in the circle," Van Wetzinga said.
 
Van Wetzinga's young team – there will be no Senior Day festivities because there are no seniors – is reliant on freshmen such as Medhus, pitcher Cheyenne Prieto and third baseman Aaliyah Arellano, and has continued to make improvements as the season has progressed.
 
"Freshmen have never been through a season like this," Van Wetzinga said. "It's way different than high school or club – the length of the season, the intensity of it. It's not just the physical side of it, it's the mental toll that it takes."