BUFFINGTON TOSSES COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUTS IN SWEEP OVER PATRICK HENRY

MARTINSVILLE, Va., (April 23, 2016) — Freshman pitcher Shannon Buffington tossed a pair of shutout gems to lead the Richard Bland College softball team to a doubleheader sweep over Patrick Henry Community College, 1-0 (nine innings) and 10-0 (five innings) in Region X Conference play on Saturday afternoon.

Buffington was masterful for the Statesmen, pitching the complete nine innings in a tightly played first game and shutting down the Patriots with decidedly more run support in the nightcap. In her 14 total innings in the circle, Buffington allowed no runs, nine hits, struck out seven and walked one. On the season, she owns 15 of Richard Bland's 18 wins. 

With the doubleheader sweep, the Statesmen improve to 18-16, 14-4 in Region X Conference action. Patrick Henry drops to 3-20, 3-12. Richard Bland will next host Region X-leading Florence- Darlington Technical College in doubleheader play on Friday, April 29 at 4 p.m. Patrick Henry will host Florence-Darlington on April 30.

Richard Bland 1, Patrick Henry 0 (nine innings)

In a terrific pitching duel between Buffington and PHCC freshman Kayla Hailey, the Statesmen pushed across the winning run in the top of the ninth inning to end RBC's third 9-inning game of the year, and first since a 6-5 victory over Pitt C.C. on March 4. The two teams combined for just 12 hits (six each), with only one hit going for extra bases. 

The winning run was manufactured when sophomore Kimberly Ellis led off the ninth and reached on an error that allowed her to scamper to third base. Fellow sophomore Whitney Clements proceeded to lace a single to the left side that easily brought home the winning run. Buffington induced two ground ball outs to Clements in the bottom of the ninth to secure the RBC victory. In both the sixth and seventh innings, the host Patriots had runners in scoring position — sophomore Hailey Williams reached third in the sixth and freshman Ashlyn Riggs advanced to second in the seventh — but both were stranded by Buffington, who got a ground out and fly out respectively to close the door. She had five strike outs in the contest. Clements was the offensive star for RBC, banging out three singles with an RBI.

Richard Bland 10, Patrick Henry 0 (five innings)

With Buffington tossing a nifty 3-hitter — with no hits coming after the third inning — and the Statesmen bats slugging out 10 hits, RBC cruised to a 10-0 victory, putting the game out of reach with a seven run fourth inning. 

In compact fashion, the seven runs were scored in a flurry, as the Statesmen scored on an error, an RBI triple by sophomore Hannah Barnes, an RBI single by Ellis, an RBI single by Buffington, a two-run error and an RBI double by freshman Maddison Waycaster. After pitching a strong first game, PHCC's Hailey found herself allowing a run in the first and third, which led to the seven-run explosion in the fourth. 

Barnes, Ellis, Clements and Buffington each had two hits each for Richard Bland, with Barnes earning two RBI and Buffington helping her own cause with two RBI.