When Jackson State hosts Grambling State this weekend, Coach Deion Sanders will attempt to remain unbeaten in his two contests versus that vaunted Louisiana football program. Yet, even if Jackson State does do just that, Coach Prime can’t claim to have a perfect record against Grambling.
Back in 1986 and 1987, Deion Sanders roamed the outfield for Florida State in a total of six baseball games versus Grambling State.
As a freshman in 1986, Sanders faced Grambling’s baseball team three times with Florida State winning two. In his first game as a Seminole, and Florida State’s first game of the year on February 12th, Deion Sanders laced two singles in three at bats while stealing all three of his theft attempts. The next day, Sanders added two more hits, one of which was a double, and another successful stolen base. In those first two games, Coach Prime scored a total of six runs and accounted for four rbi.
In Sunday’s third game of the series with Grambling, the Tigers turned the tables on No. 2 nationally ranked Florida State stunning the Seminoles by the score of 3-1. Florida State, finishing 57-11 on the season and runner up at the 1986 College World Series, was only able to muster four singles off of Grambling starting pitcher and future Major League outfielder, Gerald Williams. Reliever Juan Watkins picked up the save, going 1.2 innings without yielding a hit. Deion Sanders was held in check without recording a hit. However, he did collect another stolen base, giving him a total of five for the three-game series with Grambling.
For the series, Deion Sanders went 4-for-11, batting .364 and over the entire season, the dual-sport star hit .333.
In 1987, Deion Sanders’ sophomore season, but last playing baseball at Florida State, the Seminoles again squared off against Grambling State University in a three-game series.
While Florida State fared even better against Grambling than it did the year prior by winning all three games, Deion Sanders did not perform as well as he did the year before.
Sandwiched between two 0-for-5 games, Sanders had a two-hit day with two runs batted in against Grambling on February 13th. For the 1987 series versus Grambling State, Coach Prime went 2-for-14, batting .143. On the season, he hit .267.
So… while Deion Sanders’ Florida State Seminoles had Grambling’s number in baseball going 5-1 against them, Grambling baseball can make the case that they had Coach Prime’s number personally, limiting him to a.240 batting average in the six games.
Deion Sanders’ Statistics at Florida State (2 yrs)
AVG GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS .281 76 270 62 76 12 5 4 35 33 45 38 13
Deion Sanders’ Statistics in Major League Baseball (9 yrs)
AVG GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS .263 641 2123 308 558 72 43 39 168 159 352 186 63