Baseball: Blue Devils finish second in MCAC Southern Division
Published 9:13 pm Monday, April 30, 2012
WILLMAR — The Riverland baseball team clinched its fourth straight 30-win season and it locked up second place in the MCAC Southern Division when it swept Ridgewater by scores of 6-3 and 3-2 on the road Monday.
The Blue Devils (30-11 overall, 11-3 MCAC South) won the nightcap when Michael Knutson knocked in a run in the top of the eighth to give them the lead for good.
RCC had 24 hits on the day but that led to just nine runs.
“We did enough to get it done today,” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said. “We didn’t get a lot of clutch hits, but we pulled both games out.”
RCC will open the playoffs by hosting a three-game series, that begins with a doubleheader with Central Lakes Friday at 2 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Saturday in Riverland.
The winner of that series will move on to the Regional tournament.
On Saturday, St. Cloud Tech. wrapped up the MCAC Southern Division title, beating the Blue Devils 9-1 before falling 7-6 in a doubleheader at Seltz Field.
RCC 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 — 6 10 1
Ridge 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 — 3 5 2
RCC pitching: Ben Schaben (W), 7 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 ER, 8 K
RCC hitting: Donte Bledsoe, 3-for-3, double, 4 RBIs, 2 R; Matt Boswell, 1-for-4, RBI; Braeden Hunkins, 2-for-3, HBP; Aaron Palmer, 1-for-2, double, R, HBP, BB; Chris May, 1-for-3, R, BB; Jason Kezman, 2-for-3, 2 R, HBP
RCC 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 — 3 14 1
Ridge 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 — 2 4 1
RCC pitching: Connor Hurst (W), 8 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 ER, 7 K
RCC hitting: Bledsoe, 2-for-5; Michael Knutson, 3-for-5, RBI; Matt Boswell, 3-for-5, R; Tyler Krekling, 0-for-2, 2 BBs; Aaron Palmer, 1-for-3, double, RBI, R, BB; May, 2-for-3, double; Kezman, 1-for-2, R; Jamie Adams, 2-for-4, double, RBI
SC 3 0 1 1 0 2 2 — 9 11 0
RCC 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1 1 3
RCC pitching: Marcus Kiewel (L) , 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 9 R, 6 ER, 1 K; Jon Mittag, 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 K
RCC hitting: Krekling, 1-for-2, BB
SC 2 0 0 0 3 0 1 — 6 8 1
RCC 0 0 0 3 4 0 X — 7 6 3
RCC pitching: Brady Klingfus (W), 7 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 K
RCC hitting: Bledsoe, 1-for-2, 2 R, 2 BB; Knutson, 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R; Boswell, 0-for-2, RBI, 2 R, BB; Krekling, 0-for-2, BB; May, 1-for-2, double, 3 RBIs, BB; Palmer, 2-for-2, BB