Richard Bland Returns To Action This Weekend In The Carolinas

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Richard Bland College will return to softball action this weekend, February 17-18, with road doubleheaders at Region 10 opponents Southeastern Community College-Whiteville (N.C.) and Florence-Darlington (S.C.) Technical College, respectively.  The Statesmen (0-5, 0-0) have not played since opening the campaign nearly three weeks ago at the JUCO Kickoff Classic on January 27-28 in Clearwater, Florida.  Richard Bland will play at SCC-Whiteville (4-2, 1-1) in North Carolina on Friday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m., before playing at FDTC (3-1, 1-1) in Florence, South Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 12 p.m.

Richard Bland was led offensively in Florida by sophomores August Ringer/Yale and Tabby Dabney/Mechanicsville, along with freshmen Brooklynn Bilyard/Culpeper and Taylor Daniel/Alberta.  Bilyard hit .308 with one run, Ringer hit .294 with one run, Daniel hit .267 with three runs and three walks, and Dabney hit .250 with two RBIs and one walk.

The Statesmen pitching staff was led during the opening weekend by Dabney and sophomore Shannon Buffington/Virginia Beach.  Dabney (0-1) made two starts with one complete game, tossing 11.1 innings with a 2.47 earned run average and four strikeouts.  Buffington (0-2) made two starts with one complete game, tossing 11.1 innings, as well, with a 3.71 earned run average and four strikeouts.

Richard Bland won all five games played against SCC-Whiteville last season, outscoring the Rams 36-19, including a 10-7 win in the Region 10 Tournament last May in Burlington, North Carolina.  The Statesmen dropped all five games played against FDTC last season, though two were close, one-run decisions (3-2, 4-3), along with a hard-fought 6-4 setback to the Stingers in the Region 10 Tournament last May in North Carolina.

Richard Bland will return to campus to play its home opener against Harford (Md.) Community College on Friday, Feb. 24, a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. at the softball field.