LSU welcomes yet another SWAC team to town. On tonight's menu...
Grambling State Tigers
Record: 14-20 (8-9), 5th in the SWAC West
RS/RA: 195/226
RPI: 270
ISR: 245
Ancient Logo:
Words do not truly express how much I like Grambling's old school logo. Logos were so much better before corporate America got involved. That is just a fun logo, though their current logo is pretty iconic. Grambling's graphic design is spot on.
Notable Alumni:
Erykah Badu (Queen of Neo-Soul)
Willie Brown (Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Jophery Brown (stuntman)
Ronnie Coleman (8-time Mr. Olympia)
James "Shack" Harris (first African-American to start at QB in NFL)
Judi Ann Mason (playwright, winner of Norman Lear Award)
Pretentious Music Video:
I just listed Erykah Badu in the famous alum section, and you think I'm not gonna link to Window Seat, her most famous video? This one was an easy call.
Starter:
TBA
He's always crafty. Never know what to expect.
Sluggers:
OF Darren Farmer 360/399/456
Brandon Kiser 289/401/453
Juan Bueno 301/377/459
Bueno slugs 459, has 3 home runs, and nearly half of his base hits are for extra bases. He's also placed a sacrifice bunt 8 times this year. As much as Mainieri's obsession with bunting drives me insane, he has nothing on Grambling when it comes to throwing away outs by taking the bat out of the hands of one your best hitters. Grambling is 51 for 67 on stolen base attempts, so they run well. This is not a patient team, as the Tigers have 96 walks on the season in contrast to 237 strikeouts. They get up there and take their hacks. Farmer has that gaudy batting average, but I'd worry more about Kiser. He walks more, hits for more power, and his production is not driven by batting average. A high BABIP is likely unsustainable, so worry more about the guy with huge numbers and a comparatively low batting average.
Tiger Bait?
Probably. LSU will be giving Bonvillain another shot to prove himself as a Sunday starter with this midweek look, same with McCune. So you have two pitchers who will be treating tonight's game as an audition for an increased role for the rest of the season. That usually bodes ill for the opposition. Your best chance of pulling the midweek upset is catching LSU napping. That seems highly unlikely.