By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Riverland turned to ace pitcher Brady Banse in the late game on Friday and salvaged a split in the division baseball opener against Dakota County at Seltz Field.

In the first game of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, South Division doubleheader, the Blue Devils squandered an early lead in a 7-4 loss. This made the second game of paramount importance in avoiding a sweep against a division foe.

Banse had an early lead, then fell behind in the middle innings, but the mound ace for the Blue Devils never wavered in improving to 3-1 on the season. The offense rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and the Blue Devils got the split with a 4-3 win.

"We got out of here with a split and that's a relief after what happened in the first game," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "Our starter Brandon Huhn had a sore arm and I had to take him out after two innings.

"That kind of threw our pitching rotation off and then, we made some errors in the field. We hit the ball hard, but didn't finish it."

Rough opener

It was 1-1 in the first game when Huhn left the hill. Mitch Jaeger came on in relief and for a time, it looked like he might get the win.

Brian Voigt led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run. Voigt is hitting over .400 on the season and his power stroke put the Blue Devils on top.

Huhn was well enough to stay in the game and play in the field. He came up to bat after Voigt's homer and drew a walk.

This put a man aboard to come around when Andy Behnke blasted the second homer of the inning. Behnke's long ball made it 4-1, but the lead didn't last for the Blue Devils.

Dakota County came right back with four runs in the top of the fifth and sealed the win with two insurance runs in the seventh inning. A pair of errors by the Blue Devils contributed to the big rally in the fifth.

Ace on the hill

Three hits in the bottom of the first inning gave Banse the early lead in the late game. Voigt singled to start the opening rally and later scored on a double by Huhn. The Blue Devils then stranded two runners and began a disturbing trend which nearly cost them the game.

For the first four innings, all of the runners left on base didn't appear to matter as Banse blanked the opposition. The Riverland hurler gave up a leadoff triple in the top of the second, but recorded three straight outs to escape the jam.

Banse wouldn't be so lucky in the fifth inning. A single with one out and then, an error on his defense off a bunt left Banse vulnerable to a Dakota County rally. The visitors moved the runners around and a key single by Mock knocked in two runs.

There was another close play on the bases in the sixth inning and an error led to a 3-1 lead for Dakota County. Still, the defense would come through with some big plays in the final few innings and the offense rallied for the win. Banse stood firm and finished the game with five strikeouts.

"I like to show my emotions on the mound and when they took the lead it was frustrating, but we got through it," Banse said. "The defense played great in the final innings and I credit the whole team with the win. We didn't get the timely hits in the first game, but they got them for me with the game on the line."

Late heroics

Leaving nine men stranded through the first five innings hampered the Blue Devils offense, but they found a way to score in the bottom of the sixth. Dakota County took its starting pitcher out, and the first two Riverland batters reached base. Jeff Huth singled and Chris Lindemann walked.

This prompted another pitching change for the visitors. Zach Vlietstra, the leadoff hitter for the Blue Devils, greeted the new hurler. After two pitches were fouled off, Vlietstra became the latest Riverland batter to fail on a sacrifice.

Instead, the key hit came on a liner off the second baseman. Vlietstra reached on an infield single and drove in a run. This left runners at the corners and the speedy Vlietstra took off to steal. The throw from the catcher sailed into center field and Lindemann raced home to tie the game.

"I had to get a hit in that situation or coach would've tossed me out of the dugout," Vlietstra said. "I didn't get the bunt down, but the hit came and got the job done. I always took to be aggressive on the bases and took off right away for the steal. We should've won the first game but threw it away, then they returned the favor and we at least got a split."

Vlietstra moved to third on the error and then scored the winning run on a passed ball. The Blue Devils had averted potential disaster in their division opener.

Riverland (17-6, 1-1 MCAC South) travels today to Burnsville for the doubleheader rematch against Dakota County.

DAKOTA COUNTY 7, RIVERLAND 4

First game

Dakota CTC 010 040 2 -- 7 7 2

Riverland 100 300 0 -- 4 6 2

Riverland: Zach Vlietstra 1-4, 2B, run; Brian Voigt 1-3, walk, HR, run, RBI; Kyle Starkey 1-3; Brandon Huhn 0-3, walk, run, RBI; Andy Behnke 1-4, HR, run, 2 RBIs; Shane Lange 2-2, walk. SP: Huhn 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K. LP: Mitch Jaeger 5 1/3 IP, 6 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 HB, 6 K.

RIVERLAND 4, DAKOTA COUNTY 3

Second game

Dakota County 000 021 0 -- 3 4 1

Riverland 100 003 x -- 4 7 3

Riverland: Vlietstra 1-3, walk, SB, run, RBI; Voigt 1-2, 2 walks, run; Starkey 1-4; Huhn 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Derek Hahn 0-1, walk, HBP; Jeff Huth 1-2, run; Chris Lindemann 0-2, walk, run. WP: Brady Banse 7 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K.