The Riverland baseball team made the road to its first state championship since 1972 a rocky one after a 3-1 loss to Fergus Falls in Thursday's opening round of the MCCC State Tournament at Riverland.

The Blue Devils stranded eight runners on base as the visiting team, outhitting the FFCC Spartans 7-4. Sophomore Clint Ripley, an Austin grad, struck out four, walked four and beaned another, giving up only one unearned run in his six innings.

Riverland (13-16) played well enough to win in most aspects, but the clutch hit never came and Fergus Falls advanced to the second round. There the Spartans stomped Rochester, 16-4, to await the winner of the consolation bracket.

The tourney host Devils play today at 11 a.m. against first-round winner Itasca, the top seed from the North Division, who dispatched Northland 11-0 in five innings Thursday. Northland and Central Lakes meet in an elimination game at 11 a.m. at Riverland today as well.

Riverland, with a win, will play again at 2 p.m.