ARLINGTON – The Arlington Baptist Patriot softball team heads east this weekend to Jackson, Mississippi to compete in the River City Classic.  ABU is the only non-NCAA Division 1 team in the tournament.

"It's a great honor to be invited back to the River City Classic, and for us to be the only non-NCAA D1 team in the field, it says a lot about the respect and reputation of our program, which is growing nationally.  I feel we can absolutely be competitive at the NCAA Division 1 level, and this is an excellent opportunity for us.  We look forward to competing at the highest level of college softball and hopefully continuing to put our name on the national landscape in our sport," said head coach Davis Beaver. 

This is the second consecutive year that the Patriots have participated in the River City Classic.  Last season, ABU fell to Jackson State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Alcorn State, and Alabama A&M in competitive games.

This weekend, the Patriots will face several of the same opponents.  On Friday, ABU faces NCAA Tournament team Jackson State at 10am, followed by Alabama A&M at noon.  On Saturday, the Patriots will square off with Mississippi Valley State at 8am, followed by Alcorn State at 10am.