Grambling State University’s baseball team defeated their in-state rivals, the Southern Jaguars in a three game series this past weekend in the Wilbert Ellis baseball field.
“Southern is our rivalry, so we always want to beat them, we always want to dominate,” said James Cooper, GSU’s head baseball coach.
Total domination is exactly what the Tigers did. On Saturday, the Tigers beat Southern in a back-to-back. In the first game, Grambling won 8-7 and in the second game, Grambling won 9-5.
“We did a great job of making the pitches when we need them. We made the plays we need and we got the hits at the right time.”
On Sunday, there was no hope for the Jaguars as they lost 9-5.
On Tuesday in a home game against Louisiana Tech University, the Tigers fought hard but came up short as the Bulldogs defeated them 3-4.
Although the team lost by one run, Cooper is still pleased with the way his team has played.
“For the most part, we’ve been pretty competitive in a lot games we played,” said Cooper. “We still need that big time hit run when we’re in scoring position. That’s been the big difference in the one run losses that we have had this year.”
The Tigers scored first and led the Bulldogs 1-0. Tech the took the lead 3-1, but Grambling battled back to tie the game at 3 going in to the sixth inning.
In the eighth inning, Tech scored their final run, which would eventually be the game deciding run.
“We always have had close games with Tech since I’ve been here and we’ve fell short for the most part,” Cooper said. “We’ve yet to finish and win a game like we intended, but we got to a good start.”
This weekend the Tiger will play their last home series in three games against Georgetown University.
Cooper said it would serve as a home field advantage if fans can fill up the Wilbert Ellis baseball field to distract the other team.
First pitch for each game is 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Cooper said it would serve as a home field advantage if fans can fill up the Wilbert Ellis baseball field to distract the other team.