By Scott A. Kolb
Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

Field conditions in Worthington forced Friday's softball doubleheader to be played in Austin and that suited the Riverland women just fine as they remained unbeaten at home.

The Lady Blue Devils of Riverland took a pair of games from the Minnesota West Bluejays by scores of 3-1 and 7-4.

This was their second straight sweep of a doubleheader in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, South Division.

The Lady Devils improved to 4-2 in division play and were ranked 13th in the country in the latest NJCAA Division III poll.

Kaylee Newman pitched the Lady Devils to victory in the opening game of the division twinbill and is now 6-3 on the season. Anna Breault was the winner in the late game and is now 4-1, while Newman got the last out for a save.

"Our pitching was solid and the defense was unbelievable in the sweep," Riverland coach Dave Lillemon said. "We turned a total of five double plays on the day. The defense helped Kaylee out with three double plays in the first game."

The opener was tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, when the Lady Devils rallied for two runs. The decisive rally was started by a single from Thenedra Corey.

Chelsey Swanson then doubled to put runners at second and third with nobody out.

After two outs threatened the rally, the Lady Devils came through with the clutch hit. Mandy May belted a two-run double and that was the margin of victory in the opener.

"We stole nine bases in the first game, but couldn't get the key hits," Lillemon said. "Mandy then came up with the clutch hit in the sixth and that gave us a big win.

The offense provided plenty of run support in the late game and Breault cruised into the top of the seventh with a 7-2 lead. But the visitors weren't ready to go home without a fight.

Minnesota West scored two runs in its rally and there was still a runner on third base, when coach Lillemon made his move to the bullpen.

Newman came in and squelched the threat. She faced one batter and got a fly out to end the game.

"Our defense was solid," Lillemon said. "I don't know that we turned five double plays all last year and the defense got us out of jams.

"Anna battled but couldn't ahead in the counts. She's had great control all season and fought through the adversity of those walks to give us what we needed. This was a nice sweep and we protected our home field."

Riverland (10-5) tries to extend its winning streak in a home doubleheader on Monday against Ridgewater.

RIVERLAND 3, DAKOTA COUNTY 1

First game

Dakota CTC 100 000 0 -- 1 6 2

Riverland 010 002 x -- 3 9 1

Riverland: Laura Meyer 2-3; Chelsey Swanson 2-3; Justine Sanvick 2-3; Mandy May 1-2, 2B, 2 RBIs; Thenedra Corey 1-3, run. WP: Kaylee Newman 7 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 3 K.

RIVERLAND 7, DAKOTA COUNTY 4

Second game

Dakota County 000 110 2 -- 4 8 2

Riverland 203 110 x -- 7 15 1

Riverland: Sanvick 3-3, 2 runs; Meyer 2-4, run; Jill Radke 2-4, 2B, RBI; Swanson 2-4, run, 2 RBIs; Corey 2-4, run; Danielle Lynch 2-3, run, RBI. WP: Breault 6 2/3 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 8 H, 4 BB, 3 K. SV: Newman 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K.