Riverland's starting pitchers combined to allow four earned runs in 13 1/3 innings in Friday's doubleheader at home against two-time defending MCCC Southern Division champion Ridgewater. Two five-run losses later, first-year coach Dave Meyer could only sit and wonder.

Freshman Sean Breslin threw eight innings in the opening game at Riverland Friday, striking out seven while allowing six hits and one earned run. Sophomore John Roesler went five and one-third innings in the nightcap, surrendering five hits and no walks against six strikeouts.

Both remained winless this season.

"Errors cost us the game, same as the first game, just the little things," Meyer said after seeing his team's record dip to 0-4 this year. "I'm going to put all the numbers down and wonder why it's a loss.

"We had a lot of opportunities to win that game, but we couldn't get it done. Right now the basic fundamentals are what's hurting us."

Riverland committed three errors in the first game as Breslin earned the no-decision. The Blue Devils tied the score at 2-2 with runs in the fifth and seventh innings, and Breslin buried his pitch-count by going back out to throw the eighth. Meyer brought on a reliever in the ninth, where the game was lost.

"He really wanted to go on," Meyer said of Breslin. "I left him in longer than I wanted to just because he was throwing so well. He was very accepting of it, he understood."

Luke Larson took the loss by giving up five runs in two-thirds of an inning, walking three and giving up one hit. Jeff Geisler gave up a two-run double in relief of Larson before striking out Ridgewater's final hitter.

Breslin struck out three of the last four batters he faced, but his pitch count mounted to 113, well above the 100-pitch ceiling Coach Meyer planned to enforce.

"They threw their ace at us, and we played them well," Meyer said. "We went extra innings with the best team in the conference and we beat ourselves."

The Ridgewater Warriors (8-5) got 10 strikeouts from sophomore Andy Garry, who scattered six hits and five walks in the complete-game victory. The Warriors are the two-time defending division champions and are currently ranked 11th in the National Junior College Athletic Association baseball poll.

Breslin's only earned run came courtesy a solo home run by Ridgewater clean-up hitter Jason Schade. His wind-aided line-drive to right field left the yard in a hurry.

Riverland scored its first run in the fifth inning. Griffon Hebel walked to lead off, and Geisler, Hebel's courtesy runner, moved to third on a single by Jacob Frey and scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Ramaker.

Hebel accounted for Riverland's last run of the game, reaching with a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh. Geisler advanced around the bases on back-to-back singles by Frey and Ramaker.

Frey and Ramaker each finished the game 2-for-4, while Hebel was 1-2 and Josh Kunze was 1-4 with a double. After a 2-3 performance in the nightcap, Kunze stands at 7-12 hitting this season.

Erros prove costly

Two errors helped account for four Ridgewater runs in the fourth inning of the nightcap. Already leading 3-0, the Warriors cashed in on a pair of defensive mishaps and sped to a 7-0 advantage. Meyer's challenge to his team netted two runs in the bottom of the fourth and another in the fifth, but Roesler gave up two earned runs in the top of the sixth.

Matt Nalan allowed only one hit in one and two-thirds innings of relief.

Riverland outhit Ridgewater 8-6 in the second game, with two hits apiece from Kunze and Jamie Morrison. Michael Nastav broke out of his slump with an RBI-double in the bottom of the first, and Larson's single in the fifth ended an early-season drought.

"They're really upset because they lost, and that's good," Meyer said. "They have to realize too that they haven't been outside very long and there's a lot of things to get used to.

"Ridgewater's the best team in the conference, and we hung with them."

Riverland hosts Bethany Lutheran in an MCCC Southern Division doubleheader today starting at 1 p.m. The Blue Devils will also make up their league twinbill with Rochester on Monday, hosting the Yellowjackets at 2 p.m.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.