LSU baseball’s winning record wasn’t the only thing attracting Louisianians to Alex Box Stadium on Sunday.
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum made a campaign stop at the Tigers’ game against Mississippi St. to meet his supporters and baseball fans just less than a week before Louisiana’s presidential primary, scheduled for March 24.
About 20 people with Santorum signs and stickers greeted the candidate as his motorcade arrived. He signed autographs and made his way to a suite just left of the press box, where he chatted with former LSU athletic director and baseball coach Skip Bertman during the game.
Santorum seemed to enjoy the experience, taking pictures with children and participating in games on the jumbotron.
Although LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri was not aware Santorum was there, he said it was great that Santorum attended the game.
“I’m not going to divulge [my political views] to people, but I think it’s neat a presidential candidate thought enough of what we do here to make an appearance,” Mainieri said. “Hopefully our fans welcomed him and were very hospitable to him.”
Santorum won the Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas primaries last week with 34.5, 32.8 and 51.2 percent of the vote, respectively.
According to a WWL-TV poll conducted in early March, Santorum is favored to win the Louisiana primary with 25 percent of the vote.
While in Louisiana on Sunday, he also visited Bossier City, Shreveport and Greenwell Springs.
Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are also spending time in Louisiana. Gingrich gave a speech in Covington and visited the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans on Friday.
Romney will attend a fundraiser in Shreveport on March 23, according to The Shreveport Times.
But the spotlight was on Santorum as fans young and old came to Alex Box to catch a glimpse of the former Pennsylvania senator.
Along with Santorum came a cadre of national journalists covering his campaign. Time Magazine’s Alex Altman tweeted his take on Alex Box Stadium during the game.
“LSU’s stadium is nicer than most minor league parks. Santorum watching from a box, wearing Tiger purple,” Altman tweeted.
LSU bat girl Erin Giffin said it was exciting to see Santorum because a “possible future president is in our midst.”
Matthew Bollin, a 17-year-old Catholic High School student, said he wants to show Santorum that the younger population in Louisiana does care about politics.
“It’s never too early to get out here [to show support],” Bollin said.
Dave Persyn, a Baton Rouge resident, said he thinks Santorum came to Alex Box because “he’s looking to meet with the everyday kind of people that come to an LSU baseball game.”
Persyn, who operates a Louisiana Santorum support group on Facebook, said Santorum’s views align with his own as a pro-life Catholic. He said the U.S. Constitution’s protection of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” guards peoples’ rights to life.
Michael Banham, a Chalmette native, said Louisiana is going to have “a very important role” in the upcoming primary.
“We want to show that Rick has support across the state,” Banham said. “He is going to be the best candidate to run against Obama.”
Sports writer Hunter Paniagua contributed to this report.