Louisiana Tech will have one final tune-up before conference play begins this weekend as Lincoln Parish rival Grambling State makes the short trek to Ruston for a 6 p.m. game on Tuesday. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Grambling, but was moved to Ruston by mutual consent of the two schools.

Tuesday night will also mark the beginning of the "Can It" food drive, co-sponsored by Louisiana Tech and Grambling State in conjunction with Christian Community Action of Lincoln Parish. Fans of both schools are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to the Tech-Grambling games on March 18 at J.C. Love Field and on April 29 at Grambling. For fans and students unable to attend, a drop box will be available at both Woodson and Carver halls on the campus of Grambling State.

Tech (12-6) is coming off a weekend sweep of Tennessee-Martin, although the Bulldogs were not always at the top of their game during the series. It took an eighth-inning rally (interrupted by tornadoes in the area) in Friday's first game, strong pitching on Saturday and an 11-run outburst on Sunday to put away the pesky Skyhawks.

Grambling State (7-9) enters Tuesday night fresh off its third SWAC series victory in as many tries this season as the Tigers took two of three games from Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Tiger Field. Grambling also has a pair of wins over Prairie View and Texas Southern to its credit, as well as a victory over Northwestern State during the season's first weekend.

Louisiana Tech got a strong offensive performance last week from junior shortstop Nick Grunenwald, who batted .616 for the week with a pair of home runs and five RBI. His home runs, which came on Saturday and Sunday against UT-Martin, were his first two of the season. Chris Bohannan got his first hit of his collegiate career on Sunday against the Skyhawks, and it couldn't have been much bigger - a second-inning grand slam to give Tech a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers are led offensively by Brent Smith, who is batting .313 with a home run and seven RBI. Justin Kelly is not far behind with a .306 average including a pair of home runs and eight RBI. Kelly has been a terror on the basepaths as well with 13 stolen bases in 14 attempts. As a team, the Tigers have stolen 27 bases on 33 attempts for the season.

Tech will send redshirt freshman Casey Jones (0-0, 3.38) to the mound for his first career start. Jones sparkled in his debut on March 8 against Central Arkansas, striking out three of the four batters he faced in one inning of work. It will be a predetermined three-inning start for the righthander from Ringgold as the Bulldogs will look to preserve as many arms as possible for this weekend's conference opener at Nevada.

Grambling will counter with lefthander Byron Banks (0-2, 10.38), a senior transfer from Indiana. Last season, Banks had a 1-2 record in 11 appearances with 23 strikeouts in 32.0 innings pitched. He got the start for the Tigers in last year's first meeting, giving up five earned runs on six hits while striking out two in 3.0 innings. Banks also made a relief appearance in the second Tech-GSU game, giving up two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings.

Last season, the Bulldogs swept both meetings with Grambling State, winning 10-7 on Feb. 28 at Grambling and taking an 8-1 victory in Ruston on April 10.