Baseball Game Preview: Hampshire Hawks vs. Richland Raiders

Hampshire is 1-9 against Richland since April of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Hawks will head out on the road to challenge the Raiders at 4:30 p.m. Hampshire is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.6 runs per game this season.

Hampshire took a loss when they played away from home on Thursday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Sunday. They skirted past Culleoka 4-3. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last three times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Elijah Stephens

Batters Struck Out

05/04/25 vs Culleoka	7
04/30/25 vs Santa Fe	8
04/21/25 vs Culleoka	6
04/14/25 vs Santa Fe	11
04/08/25 @ Cornersville	9
+ 4 more games

Elijah Stephens spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on five hits and racked up seven Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in nine consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Hampshire let Kasen Anderson and Kameron Nicholson run wild. Anderson went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and one double, while Nicholson went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one double. That's the most RBI Nicholson has posted since back in March.

Meanwhile, Richland waltzed into their contest on Thursday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They didn't even let the Hawks on the board, marking their second-straight 16-0 shutout. Considering the Raiders have won 12 matches by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Richland pushed their record up to 17-11 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.5 runs over those games. As for Hampshire, their victory bumped their record up to 19-9.

Hampshire suffered a grim 16-0 defeat to Richland when the teams last played on Thursday. Can the Hawks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.