The Riverland baseball team throttled Northfield 9-1 in the first game of the Minnesota Community College Conference State Tournament, but the Blue Devils were bounced by Fergus Falls 10-1 in the semifinals Friday in Willmar.

Riverland, the top-seeded team from the Southern Division, stomped the Northern Division's third-seeded Northland squad with 12 hits in Friday's opener. Luke Larson homered twice and Matt Nalan hit a three-run homer as the Devils advanced into the second round.

Sean Breslin threw sevn strong innings, striking out five while walking three and hitting another. Northland had just three hits off Breslin.

Larson's solo blast in the second inning gave Riverland a 1-0 lead, and his two-run bomb in the third put the Devils up 4-0.

Nalan hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, and Michael Nastav -- who finished 3-3 -- added an RBI-single later in the inning. Jeff Kvam went 2-4 with a double and Josh Kunze also hit a double.

In the semifinal round, Fergus Falls -- the top-seeded team from the North -- knocked the Devils into the losers' bracket with a 10-1 win. John Roesler surrendered one earned run for the Devil pitching staff, but was saddled with the loss as five Riverland fielding errors sent Fergus Falls into the championship finals of the double-elimination tournament.

Roesler went 5 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and six runs. Breslin came on in relief, allowing three hits over 1 2/3 innings.

Riverland's only run came in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI-single by Jamie Morrison.

The Blue Devils played Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against the winner between Central Lakes and either Rochester or Itasca.

"I'm not settling," Riverland coach Dave Meyer said after Friday's folly. "(Roesler) did phenominal, but the errors killed us, they absolutely killed us.

"We're the number one seed for a reason."

Linescores:

Game One

Northland0001000--132

Riverland013005x--9121

WP--Breslin. LP--Johnson. 2B--Kvam, Kunze. HR--Larson 2, Nalan.

Game Two

FFCC0000361--10122

Riverland1000000--135