Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

ST. CLOUD -- A pair of wins on Friday has the Riverland Community College (Austin) baseball team into today's championship game of the MCAC State Tournament.

Riverland blasted Ridgewater 13-3 in six innings for the opening game of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference State Tournament at Faber Field.

In the late game of the day, Riverland defeated Dakota County Technical College 7-5 and moved into the title round of the double-elimination tournament. The Blue Devils can now finish no worse than second in the state, and they have secured one of three bids into next week's regional tournament.

"We came out swinging the bats in the opener and lit up the scoreboard," Riverland coach Scott Koenigs said. "Andy Behnke, Zach Vlietstra, and Brandon Huhn all hit homers in the game. Vlietstra ended it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth."

Huhn was the recipient of the run production as he went all six innings for the win. Huhn had six strikeouts.

More long balls from the Blue Devils went flying over the fence in the late game. Chris Lindemann had the big blow with a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game in the fourth. The Blue Devils then took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth inning.

Brady Banse got the pitching win against Dakota County. After giving up four runs in the bottom of the first, Banse threw three straight scoreless innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth, and Vlietstra came on to get the save.

"Brady settled down after the rough start and threw hard," Koenigs said. "Zach came in with the bases loaded in the fifth and go out of the jam. They also had the bases loaded after scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh, but Zach got two strikeouts and a groundout to end the game. It's exciting to be playing (today) for a state championship."