Statesmen Go 2-1 In Conference Opener

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, VA – The Richard Bland College of William and Mary Baseball team moves to 2-1 in conference, 4-1 overall after their first conference series of the inaugural 2022 season. The baseball team traveled to Southeastern Community College-Whiteville in Whiteville, NC for the meeting.

In game 1, despite a 5-run deficit in the seventh inning, Richard Bland almost came all the way back, eventually falling 10-9 to Southeastern on Saturday. The Statesmen scored five runs in the failed comeback on a home run by Dylan Barber in the eighth, a stolen base by Jayvon Brown in the eighth, a double by Rixon Webb in the ninth, and a double by Brown in the ninth. Richard Bland collected 13 hits and Southeastern had 14 in the high-scoring affair. Barber and Bean both homered in the loss. Spencer Fillhart took the loss for Richard Bland, going two-thirds of an inning, allowing one run on two hits and walking zero.

In game 2, despite seeing its four-run lead whittled down by the end, Richard Bland held off Southeastern for a 5-4 victory. Chris Polymeropoulos singled on a 2-0 count scoring a run to get things started in the first inning. Nick Guerra, Wade Clements, William Bean, Evan Hornsby, and Polymeropoulos each managed one hit to lead the Statesmen. Gavin Riley was the winning pitcher for Richard Bland, surrendering two runs on six hits over three and a third innings, striking out three. Davis Snyder threw one and two-thirds innings in relief out of the bullpen.

In game 3, Dylan Barber meant business, driving in five runs on two hits to lead Richard Bland past Southeastern, 11-3. Barber drove in runs on a triple in the fourth and a home run in the seventh. The Statesmen pulled away for good with five runs in the fourth inning. Nick Guerra doubled, scoring one run, Barber tripled, scoring two, and Jayvon Brown singled, scoring two runs. Codie Maitland led the Statesmen to victory on the pitcher's mound. The hurler allowed eight hits and three runs over five innings, striking out four. Spencer Fillhart threw three innings in relief out of the bullpen.

 Richard Bland baseball next travels to Pitt Community College on Saturday, February 19^th for a conference double header starting at 1pm. The third game of this series will be hosted by Richard Bland on Sunday February 20^th at 1pm.