GRAMBLING – Northwestern State will attempt to get in its first mid-week baseball game since March 14 at LSU when the Demons visit Grambling at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
 
The last three mid-week games that covered three weeks of action, were all rained out as the Demons (12-17) are 1-5 on the season in non-conference games played Tuesday through Thursday. 
 
NSU is coming off a three-game Southland Conference sweep at the hands of first place Sam Houston State, but still maintains sole possession of second place in the league standings as it heads into this weekend's home league series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
Grambling is 15-14 on the season and dropped two out of three to Arkansas-Pine Bluff over the weekend.  The Tigers have lost five of their last six games including last week's mid-week contest against Louisiana Tech by a 4-1 score.
 
The Demons are ranked eighth in the league with a .262 team batting average and are 10^th with a 4.83 team ERA.
 
Will Watson tops the squad with a .324 mark while Drew Helenihi is hitting .321.  Watson is also second on the team and ranked fourth in the conference with 15 stolen bases.
 
Other Demon players in the conference rankings have Nick Hinojos tied for eighths with four home runs, Jordan Buckley second with 20 stolen bases, and Nick Purdy second in walks (28) and fourth in on-base percentage (.471).
 
On the mound, the Demons are expected to give Jamie Bittle his first career start.  Bittle is 0-0 with a 3.21 ERA and has appeared in 12 games.  He was penciled in to start last Tuesday at Louisiana-Monroe but was put on hold when the game got rained out.
 
NSU pitchers ranked in the conference stats include Mason Melotakis at second with seven saves, Joe Scacio first in opponent batting average (.189), tied for third in appearances (15) and eighth in strikeouts (43), and Colin Bear ninth with 41 strikeouts.
 
The Tigers are hitting .279 as a team and are led by Thomas Brown's .389 average.  Grambling also has four players with 20 or more RBI on the season and they're averaging 6.5 runs scored per game.  Pitching is a different issue for the Tigers as their staff has compiled a 5.61 ERA and opponents are hitting .279 against them.  Opponents have also scored 10 or more runs seven times against them.
 
Tuesday's game will be the only meeting of the season between the Demons and Tigers.  NSU has won the last seven games against Grambling and has compiled an 8-1 record against the Tigers under head coach J.P. Davis.