By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Brian Voigt of the Riverland Blue Devils threw a no-hitter to cap off Thursday's doubleheader sweep of Hibbing Community College.

The Blue Devils baseball team won by scores of 6-0 and 4-0 in the twinbill at Dick Seltz Field.

Zach Vlietstra pitched seven shutout innings to get the win in the opening game of the day. Vlietstra had eight strikeouts and allowed five hits in his mound win.

Voigt recorded three strikeouts in the second game. He did give up four walks in the no-hitter.

"Both of our pitchers threw well in getting the sweep," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "There isn't much difference between our top starter and the No. 6 guy on the staff. All of our pitchers are capable of throwing shutouts."

The first game was scoreless through two innings, then the Riverland offense scored solo runs in the third and fourth frames. Shane Lange led the Blue Devils in the opener with a pair of doubles and a home run.

This was more than enough offense for Vlietstra as he put up blanks for the opposition on the scoreboard. The Blue Devils pitcher also had a double and scored two runs in the win.

"Zach threw strikes, he had his slider working and stayed ahead of their hitters," the coach said. "He threw hard and I was happy with his performance on the mound."

In the late game, the Blue Devils offense put up a run in the bottom of the first and this proved to plenty for Voigt. The Riverland hitters then added three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Voigt closed it out for the sweep.

"Brian was around the plate against every hitter," Koenigs said. "Even his walks were on a 3-2 count and he was near the strike zone. When he missed it wasn't by much. He threw strikes and kept our defense on its toes. Brian relied on fastballs, and they had nine fly ball outs."

Riverland (16-5) play host to Dakota County in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, South Division opener this afternoon.

RIVERLAND 6, HIBBING 0

First game

Hibbing 000 000 0 -- 0 5 0

Riverland 001 122 x -- 6 12 0

Riverland: Shane Lange 3-4, 2 2B, HR, run, 3 RBIs; Kyle Starkey 2-2, walk, HBP, SB, 2 runs; Brandon Huhn 1-3; Jeff Huth 1-2, walk, 3B, RBI; Zach Vlietstra 1-3, 2B, SB, HBP, 2 runs, RBI; Brian Voigt 1-2; Andy Behnke 1-2, walk, 2B, RBI; Chris Lindemann 1-3, walk; Toby Kaplan 1-4, 3B, run. WP: Zach Vlietstra 7 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 HB, 8 K.

RIVERLAND 4, HIBBING 0

Second game

Hibbing 000 000 0 -- 0 0 1

Riverland 100 003 x -- 4 4 0

Riverland: Shawn Pape 1-2, walk, SB, 2B, run; Vlietstra 1-3, SB, run; Huhn 1-3, run; Kody Retterath 1-3, 2B, RBI. WP: Brian Voigt 7 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 BB, 3 K.