DENVER – MSU Denver has for decades been a leader in providing equal opportunities for women in intercollegiate athletics.
Today is the 47
th installment of a 52-part tribute by Roadrunners Athletics to pioneers and leaders in intercollegiate athletics at MSU Denver. The series coincides with the passage of Title IX.
Each Thursday, a key female figure in Roadrunners athletics history will be recognized.
Today, former softball star
Darby McGhee is featured.
McGhee was a two-way star for the Roadrunners, making her greatest impact as a pitcher, where she set the program record with 458 career strikeouts.
An All-South Central Region player in 2019 (NFCA first team, D2CAA second team), McGhee was an All-RMAC first team selection in 2018 and 2019 as well as a second-team pick in 2021. She was a five-time RMAC Pitcher of the Week.
Besides leading the program in strikeouts, she also is the program's all-time leader in saves (nine), is tied for first in shutouts (13) and is second in career wins (she was 59-31). She posted the fourth-best opponent batting average (.257) in program history and ranks seventh with a 3.42 ERA.
Also the team's starting shortstop when not pitching for much of her career, McGhee is tied for 11
th in program history with 36 career doubles and also ranks among the program's top 25 in hits (158), RBIs (93) and total bases (217) after batting .312 for her career.
In 2019, she was 13-11 with a 2.77 ERA and 123 strikeouts as a pitcher, and batted .332 with career bests of 19 doubles, five homers and 39 RBIs.
She played for teams that were a combined 146-88, including 114-46 in RMAC regular-season play.
Title IX, the groundbreaking law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at schools that receive funding from the federal government, went into effect just over 50 years ago – on June 23, 1972.
