DENVER – The most dynamic offense in Division II has switched diamonds at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
Because while the MSU Denver baseball team mashed its way into memories over the past few seasons, it's now the Roadrunners' softball team that is stealing the show.
Heading into a Thursday-Friday series at Adams State, MSU Denver leads Division II in batting average (.373), doubles (85) and hits (380), and ranks fourth with 266 runs, 11
th with 79 stolen bases, 11
th with a .568 slugging percentage, and 15
th with an on-base percentage of .423.
"The past few years our offense has been solid, but probably a little inconsistent," MSU Denver coach
Annie Van Wetzinga said. "What has set us apart this year is our consistency and our depth."
MSU Denver, which is 29-7 overall and leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 22-2, will be looking to improve upon those numbers against last-place Adams State (4-29, 2-22) in doubleheaders that are scheduled for noon Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday.
But the Roadrunners are coming off a huge offensive weekend in a four-game sweep of UCCS – .387 average, .443 on-base percentage and .632 slugging – that caused only a slight uptick in their overall season numbers.
MSU Denver is in the top 15 nationally in seven categories this season, while last year in those same categories it ranked in the top 15 in only one and ranked between 17
th and 53
rd in the others.
"We're more mature and more resilient this year," Van Wetzinga said. "We're not approaching or teaching anything differently than we have in the past. Our players are just using their experience and understanding team offense better."
Individually, left fielder
Shelby Robb leads Division II with 17 doubles (including five last week), ranks second with 58 hits, 17
th with 39 RBIs and 19
th with 84 total bases.
First baseman
Miah Hartvigsen is seventh 52 hits, eighth with a .500 batting average and 14
th with a .565 on-base percentage. Shortstop
Hannah DiFabio is seventh with 14 doubles, and center fielder
Kami Grammerstorf is 15
th with four triples.
"We've had different times when maybe the top or middle of our lineup hasn't been totally on, but the bottom of the lineup gives us big at-bats, finds ways to get on base, and sets the table for us," Van Wetzinga said. "And our depth isn't just 1 to 9 in the lineup. We have really close competition at a couple of positions, and have started different players at different times. And our pinch-hitting has been really good."
After winning 25 of its last 27 games, MSU Denver received votes this week the NFCA Division II Top 25 poll for the first time since 2021.
Some of the offensive numbers figure to come down at some point, but for now the Roadrunners are on track to break the school record in batting (.372 in just 29 games in 1984).
The meat of the league lineup doesn't come until the late in the season, with Colorado Mesa and No. 8 Colorado Christian (both 21-3 in league play) on the April schedule.
"We want to continue to climb and stay fresh and focused as we move towards the last third of the season," Van Wetzinga said.
Meanwhile, in the circle,
Jenna Medhus is the reigning RMAC Pitcher of the Week after twirling 11 scoreless innings while winning both of her starts with complete games last weekend.
"She wasn't as sharp the weekend before, and the biggest thing was working on her (location) level," Van Wetzinga said. "She's a ground-ball pitcher and she did a really nice job of keeping the ball low and getting a ton of ground balls. And her changeup was working well, and those two pitches really play off each other for her."
