GSU Baseball Pregame
: Monday, March 25, 2002
"T. Scott Boatright

GSU Baseball Pregame


GRAMBLING -- Expect to see plenty of young Tigers trying to earn their stripes as Grambling State plays at the University of Texas-Arlington today.
The teams will play a single game starting at 3 p.m. in Arlington, Texas.
Grambling State stands at 11-14 on the season while the Mavericks are 10-14.
The Tigers are trying to fight off an eight-game losing skid, but with conference play coming on Friday GSU coach Wilbert Ellis said he expects to utilize his bench against UTA.
"I don't even know what pitcher I'll start," Ellis said. "All of the young ones may throw. We're going to try to give our young guys some seasoning because we might need them in the conference games."
One player who definitely won't be playing for the Tigers is senior pitcher Roy Foster, who leads GSU at 4-2 on the year with a 1.02 ERA.
Another regular starter not expected to see action for GSU is sophomore centerfielder James Cooper, who leads the Tigers with a .405 batting average with 11 RBIs and three home runs.
"This is a chance for those guys to rest up and to give us a chance to look at the some of the young guys," Ellis said. "We might fight someone who can end up really helping us."
One player Ellis might be paying close attention to is sophomore shortstop Joshua Scott, who played his first career game is his first start in GSU's second game against Texas Southern last Friday.
Another young Tiger who has garnered recent notice is freshman outfielder Samuel Jefferson, who has played in eight games with six starts and is batting .316 with four RBIs, one home run and a .579 slugging percentage.
"We're going in there to win, we're just going to do it with our young guys," Ellis said. "Texas-Arlington looks like a pretty tough team, but it's time for us to turn things around and play well against the good teams."
Ryan Roberts leads the Mavericks with a .341 batting average and 23 RBIs with two home runs while K.J. Hedricks has stolen 14 bases for UTA and is batting .330 with one home run and seven RBIs.