Third-seeded Texas A&M has designs on a three-week run in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament that'll end in the best-of-3 College World Series finals. But first the Aggies will have to deal with a Grambling State team hellbent on getting respect. The Tigers, at four games under .
500, weren't on any projected mock 64-team brackets a week ago when they went to the Southwestern Athletic Conference's tournament in Atlanta. But Grambling State won the league championship, bouncing back from a 17-7 run-rule loss to SWAC East Division champ Florida A&M in the second round by winning four straight games. That earned the Tigers the league's automatic bid and first NCAA tourney appearance since 2010.
Grambling State (26-26) will open the Bryan-College Station regional against the host Aggies (44-13) at noon Friday at Blue Bell Park. "Having an opportunity to play in this [regional], having an opportunity to be at this beautiful facility means a lot to us and for our fan base and our family and our friends," Grambling State coach Davin Pierre said. "We get an opportunity to go out and show the world that we play a really good brand of baseball and it's to be respected.
" The Tigers leaned on their team motto — "Hell, Baby, we Grambling" — during their six games in five days at the SWAC tourney. "The 'Hell Baby, we Grambling,' means a lot to us," Pierre said. "It means family, it means perseverance, it means passion, it means having a sense of pride for our university.
And we tal.