HBCU baseball champs Grambling State University celebrated its first NCAA Division I baseball tournament appearance in 14 years in a truly unique fashion. Days after learning they would be heading to the Bryan-College Station Regional to face the No. 3 overall seed from the SEC, Texas A&M, the Grambling State baseball social media accounts posted pictures 3 players who had gotten tattoos of the team slogan, “Hell baby, We Grambling.”
The photos were shared with the caption, “Some teams do playoff beards…we do tournament tattoosðŸ–‹ï¸ #HellBabyWeGramblingðŸ¯.” If you’ve followed the Tiger’s SWAC championship run, you’ve likely heard it as the team’s rallying cry, but for a select group of Grambling baseball players, it’s become a permanent reminder of the teams 2024 SWAC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.
Grambling State University head baseball coach Davin Pierre shared why the slogan means so much to his team and explained its origins with some of the great HBCU coaches in the history of Grambling State University.
“It comes from coach Eddie Robinson and coach Wilbert Ellis! It’s about the passion they have for our university and athletic programs. And I’m just holding and pushing what they started. ‘Hell Baby, We Grambling’ means we can overcome anything, we can do anything, and the expectation is for us to be the best. It means we are family. It means we have respect for our university, it means that we just don’t wear the G. It’s in our heart and it means no matter what we will always fight for Grambling.”
Coach Pierre also told the TexAgs account on X.com that he told the team when they got to the SWAC championship game, that they would get the tattoos if they won.
“The tattoos come from a phrase we have: Hell baby, we Grambling. I said after we got to the championship game and won the championship that we’d get tattoos.” “When we say, ‘Hell baby, we Grambling,’ it means a lot of different things, but it means we fight for Grambling State University.”
Grambling went on to win the 2024 SWAC championship game with a thrilling 6-5 win over Jackson Statre on a bottom-of-the-ninth RBI to take home the SWAC championship trophy and the title of HBCU baseball champions, as the SWAC is the only Division I HBCU conference to sponsor baseball.
“We’re playing against the elite of the elite.” Coach Pierre said of the Tiger’s opponent, one of the top teams in the nation, “Texas A&M was No. 1 throughout the duration of the year and is the No. 3 seed overall. We have to earn our respect.”
Right-handed pitcher Mason Martinez will start on the mound for Grambling vs. Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament on May 31 in the Bryan-College Station Regional at 12 p.m. CT. on ESPN+.