Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

COCOA BEACH, Fla. -- The Riverland Blue Devils baseball team won its first three games of the season over the weekend.

The season started with a 2-1 win over Massasoit (New Jersey) Community College on Saturday night at the Cocoa Beach Expo Center. Riverland then went on to beat Jamestown (NY) College 7-1 and Allegheny CC (Penn.) by a 14-4 score on Sunday.

Brandon Huhn pitched a three-hitter to win the opener for the Blue Devils. Huhn had 11 strikeouts and only two walks in Saturday's win.

Riverland scored one run in the fourth and one in the fifth inning. Massasoit had its only run in the seventh inning.

Hitting statistics included: Chris Lindemann was 1-for-2, with a double and walk; Zach Velietestra had two walks and three stolen bases; Kyle Starkey was 1-for-3, Huhn helped his cause with a walk and a hit; Andy Behnke was 1-for-2; and Brian Voigt also had a hit for the Blue Devils in the season opener.

"This is what we expected from Brandon and he delivered with a great pitching effort," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "There were no errors on our defense. They were ranked No. 8 in the nation, so we got the season off to a good start."

In the first game on Sunday, the winning pitcher against Jamestown was Mitch Jaeger. He went five innings, allowed six hits, gave up one unearned run, and struck out six batters. Nate Steenblock pitched the final two innings and allowed only one hit.

Starkey led the way for the Blue Devils by going 3-for-4, with two run scored, a double, and RBI. Other hitting statistics included: Huhn 2-3, two-run homer in first inning; Lindemann 1-2; Behnke 1-2, double, run, RBI; Dustin Fritz 1-3, run, 2 RBI; and Brian Voigt 1-for-3, RBI.

The second game on Sunday against Allegheny CC turned into a rout. The Blue Devils had a 14-0 lead until the last inning.

Brady Banse went 5 1/3 innings to get the win. Banse had three strikeouts, three walks, five hits, three hit-batters, and no runs allowed.

Hitting heroes included: Starkey 3-3, 2 runs, 2 2B, RBI; Jeff Huth 2-4, 2 runs, triple, HR, 3 RBI; Zach Weistra 2-4, SB; Huhn 1-3, 2 runs, 2B, RBI; Brian Voigt 1-1, triple, run, 2 RBI; and Mitch Kaplan 2-4, run, 2-run homer in fourth inning. This was the first collegiate home run for Kaplan.

"Banse did a good job and he was effectively wild in his first start," Koenigs said. "We brought the bats out and took care of business."

Riverland (3-0) plays two more games this afternoon on its spring training trip to Florida.