SOFTBALL HOSTS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS GAME SATURDAY VS. SURRY C.C.

PETERSBURG, Va., (April 7, 2016) – Last weekend, the Richard Bland College softball team had both of its doubleheaders against Patrick Henry and Florence-Darlington rained out, but the Statesmen will be back in action on Saturday, hosting Region X Conference rival Surry Community College in a Breast Cancer Awareness Game starting at Noon.

On Saturday, the Statesmen will wear pink "Strikeout Cancer" t-shirts, which have also been sold as a fundraiser. All proceeds from t-shirt sales are being donated to Relay for Life in Petersburg.

The Statesmen (12-14, 8-2) currently sit in second place in Region X Conference standings behind Florence-Darlington (15-8, 4-0). Surry Community College is in third place (11-19, 5-2).

GAME DETAILS

Opponent: Surry Community College (11-19, 5-2) vs. Richard Bland (12-14, 8-2)

Date: Saturday, April 9, at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Richard Bland Softball Home Page 

Site: Petersburg, VA.

ABOUT SURRY C.C.: Surry is coming off a 9-1 and 10-5 loss to Spartansburg Methodist on Tuesday, and will face Wake Technical Community College on Friday in doubleheader action prior to playing RBC … Four players currently hit over .300 for the Knights, led by freshman infielder Brooke Bagwell .373 … Bagwell's 31 hits currently leads the team, but two other teammates, freshman Erynee Chalk and sophomore Regan Gentry, each have 30 hits … Chalk leads the team in RBI with 21 … Freshman Megan Linville is batting .352 and sophomore Hayley Tickle hits at .347 … Tickle is the team's primary pitcher, starting in 10 games thus far

LAST OUTING VS. SURRY C.C.: Played last May 3 at the Region X Tournament in Burlington, N.C., the Knights defeated Richard Bland 3-1 to win the Region X title … In the season's four regular season games, the team's split the games, each winning and losing on the opponents home field.

BATS ERUPTING: Last Tuesday afternoon, the Statesmen bats erupted in a doubleheader sweep against Wake Tech … Richard Bland won the doubleheader 15-1 and 18-9, banging out 38 hits in the two games … RBC had six doubles in the two games, two of them coming in the same inning from sophomore Mikie Williams

GETTING TO THE PLATE: The Statesmen have batted 695 times this season, 17^th most in NJCAA Division II.

KEEN EYE: With 83 walks this season, RBC has earned a free pass the 19^th most times in the nation.

BY THE NUMBERS: Sophomore Abby Eichelberger leads the Statesmen in hitting with a .375 average, just ahead of fellow sophomore Hannah Barnes, who is hitting .371 … Barnes leads the team in hits (33), doubles (6), triples (3), runs (25) and slugging percentage (.451).

FIRST BASE: Sophomore first baseman Whitney Clements leads the team in walks (13) and an on base percentage (.453) … On the season she has 29 hits and is tied for the team lead in RBI with 14.

NO ERRORS: For the second time this season, the Statesmen played a complete 7-inning game without an error in the second game victory over Patrick Henry … The first time came against College of Southern Maryland on Mar. 5.

ON THE HILL: Freshman Shannon Buffington has shouldered the pitching duties for most of the season, appearing in 22 of 26 games and starting in 15 of them … She owns eleven of RBC's 12 wins this season while logging 98.2 innings on the mound … She has struck out 35 batters and sports a 2.48 ERA … Nine of her 15 starts have been complete-game efforts.

BATS WARMING UP: The 18 runs scored in the second game against Wake Tech represent the most runs in a single game since tallying 16 against Wake Tech last March 25 … In the two games, RBC tallied 33 runs, the most in back-to-back games in program history … The previous record was 30 runs in a doubleheader sweep over Rappahannock Community College on March 16, 2014.

WHAT'S NEXT: Following Saturday's games, the Statesmen host Wake Tech on Aoril 15 at 3 pm. and 5 p.m.