By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Western Wisconsin Technical College was no match for Riverland in Monday's non-conference baseball doubleheader.

The two games were played on the old college field at the Riverland complex, and the home team ran up the run totals in a pair of lopsided wins. The Riverland Blue Devils won the first game 17-0 and followed with a 10-0 win in five innings.

After playing a pair of tough doubleheaders with Dakota County last week, these two games were like taking a break in the middle of the schedule. The Blue Devils scored 10 runs in the first inning of the opening game.

All of the run production made this outing on the mound an easy win for Riverland starter Nate Steenblock, who pitched four scoreless innings. Kyle Maloney finished the game with a scoreless top of the fifth for the Blue Devils in the opener of the day.

"We came in relaxed and our hitters put up 10 runs right away in the bottom of the first inning," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said.

"This allowed Steenblock to settle into a nice rhythm and he did a good job on the mound. We played error-free ball in the field for both games and that also helped the pitchers."

Alex Buckentine went all five innings on the hill for the victorious Blue Devils in the late game. Buckentine was handed an early four-run lead when his offense scored right away in the bottom of the first.

Shane Lange had a bases-loaded double to break things open for the Blue Devils in their initial at-bat of the second game. Kyle Starkey had three hits for the Blue Devils as they rolled to the sweep.

"Our younger pitchers showed they have the stuff with a pair of shutouts," Koenigs concluded. "After these two big wins, now we get a couple of days off to get ready for a series of big doubleheaders later in the week."

Riverland (20-7) will play a home doubleheader against Iowa Lakes Community College on Friday, prior to a home-and-away series with Minnesota West over the weekend in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, South Division.

RIVERLAND 17, WWTC 0, 5 INN.

First game

Western Wis. 000 00 -- 0 1 1

Riverland (10)34 0x -- 17 14 0

Riverland: Zach Vlietstra 2-2, 2B, 3B, walk, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Brian Voigt 2-2, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Mitch Kaplan 2-2, 2B, 2 RBIs; Brandon Huhn 2-3, 2 2B, run, 3 RBIs; Josh Pilcher 1-2, run; Kyle Starkey 1-2, run, RBI; Dustin Fritz 1-1; Shawn Pape 1-3, walk, HBP, 3B, 2 SB, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Winston Smith 1-3, walk, 2 runs, RBI. WP: Nate Steenblock 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. RP: Kyle Maloney 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K.

RIVERLAND 10, WWTC 0, 5 INN.

Second game

Western Wis. 000 00 -- 0 1 1

Riverland 402 4x -- 10 7 0

Riverland: Starkey 3-3, 2B, SB, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Voigt 1-2, walk, 2B, 2 runs; Andy Behnke 1-1, 2 walks, 2 SB, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Shane Lange 1-2, walk, 2B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Derek Emanuel 1-2, 2 RBIs. WP: Alex Buckentine 5 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 HB, 1 BB, 7 K.