DENVER – At some point, the learning curve intersects with skill and experience.
 
The MSU Denver softball team is hoping to graph that at this weekend's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
 
"We've talked about how we're young," MSU Denver coach Annie Van Wetzinga said. "They've been growing and figuring out what a long, competitive college softball season is. But we've also said, 'Let's quit talking about being young. Because we're also talented.' Let's have some expectation and belief going into the tournament. Let's do some things."
 
The Roadrunners (33-20 overall) enter the six-team, double-elimination tournament as the No. 2 seed after going 29-13 in league play.
 
While eighth-ranked tournament host Colorado Christian (52-4) ran away with the league title at 42-2, MSU Denver emerged from a six-team race for second place to get the second seed and the first-round bye that comes with it.
 
The Roadrunners will play the winner of an earlier Thursday game between third-seeded Regis (31-23 overall, 28-16 RMAC) and sixth-seeded Chadron State (27-24, 25-19) in a game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday at All-Star Park.
 
"It's a big deal because … we're young," Van Wetzinga said of the No. 2 seed. "To finish second out of 12 teams is a big deal for a young team. And you get the bye and that benefits you – you only have to play one game on day one, and that's an advantage."
 
The rest of the tournament field includes fourth-seeded Colorado Mesa (28-21, 26-15) and fifth-seeded Colorado School of Mines (25-24, 24-16). The winner of the tournament earns the RMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the chances of the RMAC getting an at-large berth to the South Central Regional are low if Colorado Christian wins the title. As of last week, MSU Denver was the only team other than Colorado Christian in the region rankings – and the Roadrunners were 10^th. The Lone Star Conference Tournament champion also gets an automatic berth, and the six at-large bids go to the highest remaining regionally ranked teams at the end of the weekend.

MSU Denver's journey to even the cusp of the tournament field has been an impressive one.
 
The Roadrunners, with no seniors on the roster, tested themselves with an early trip to Texas, going 3-6 against seven Lone Star teams – including five of the top nine. Those seven teams have a combined winning percentage of .588.
 
Then they zipped through the early part of the conference schedule, winning their first 15 league games in a 19-1 start. The back half of the schedule was tougher, but after losing 11 of 14, they've won seven of eight, including a four-game sweep at Regis before wrapping up the season with three wins in four games against New Mexico Highlands.
 
"It's felt amazing," pitcher Audrey Burt said of the late surge. "We really attacked (two weekends ago) against Regis the way we should have, the way we should attack every weekend. Hopefully we can roll these two weekends into the conference tournament."
 
Said Van Wetzinga: "We did hit a lull, and there were multiple factors there – we played good teams and had some bad luck, and a young team getting into April, you've got to keep pushing. But I think we've worked through that a little bit, and I like where we're at going into the conference tournament."