Kumar Rocker takes the hill for our No.2 Vanderbilt Commodores (47-10) vs.  No.16 LSU (37-23) Game time is approximately 3:30 PM CT or later on the SEC Network with Tom Hart, Kyle Parkinson and Chris Burke on the call, great crew.

LSU is red hot after a 4-3 victory over Auburn Thursday scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th, then blasting MS. State last night 12-2. They have won the SEC Tournament 12 times, so they’re extremely dangerous. They HAVE used a lot of pitchers though. I looked at the 4 games they’ve played, their only loss is to State, 6-5 in 17 innings Wednesday Night, and the best guesstimate I can come up with is righty Devin Fontenot. Fontenot is 5-1 with a 3.79 ERA. In 40.1 innings, he has walked 20 and struck out 39. He is a sophomore.

Kumar, a freshman, is 7-5 with a 4.32 ERA, but has been terrific since just past the halfway mark of the season. In 66.2 innings pitched, he has issued just 15 walks and struck out 68. Kumar can hit mid 90’s and throws a terrific slider and change up. Feel good about our star freshman on the hill. It’s going to be tough, this team has a rich tradition at the tournament, but their pitching staff is pretty thin right now, so that works to our advantage. The winner plays the Georgia-Ole Miss winner tomorrow at 2 PM CT on ESPN2. Should be quite a classic today. Ole Miss is leading UGA, 5-3 in the bottom of the 6th.

Dansby Swanson had a spectacular night last night in the Braves 5-2 victory over the Cardinals. Dans homered to left in the top of the 6th and homered in the 8th, 410 feet over the central field wall. It was phenomenal. Dans now has 10 homers and 35 RBIs. He’s hitting .370 in his last 7 days. The man is getting hot. The Braves are playing very well at 29-23 and 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies which are 30-21. Braves at Cards tonight at 6:15 on FOX.

Walker Buehler pitched another gem last night in another Dodgers victory, this one 10-2 over the Pirates. Walker went 6, gave up 5 hits, 1 earned run, with 1 walk and 6 K’s. His 97-98 MPH heat was cookin, and he combined that with an excellent change up and slider. Walker threw 99 pitches with 74 for strikes against 23 balls, more than a 3:1 strike to ball ratio. Walk is now 5-1 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) which is phenomenal. Anything under 1.10 is excellent. Walk has walked 11 and struck out 52. Just under a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. The Dodgers are 33-18, and 6 games ahead of the Padres, which are 27-24.

Just some seriously good stuff from Dans and Walk. Bryan Reynolds had a hit last night for the Pirates in their loss to Walker and the Dodgers. He’s having an awesome year hitting .312. The Pirates are playing well at 25-23 and 3 1/2 back of the Cubs and 2 back of the Brewers in the NL Central.

Tony got in the game, but didn’t hit last night for the ‘Stros. Tony is hitting .239, but getting better. He’s an awesome player. The Stros defeated the Red Sox, 4-3. The Astros are 34-18 and 7 up on the Rangers.

David Price on the mound tonight at Houston. David is 2-2 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP, also excellent. David is so accurate. In 41 innings of work, Dave has walked only 10 and K’d 46, almost a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio, which is also superb. David is coming off a 12-2 victory over Toronto Monday Night. The Red Sox are 27-24 in third, 6 back of the Yankees (32-17). The Rays are 2nd at 29-19. David faces Brad Peacock of the Astros tonight at 6:15. David will face Brad Peacock of the Astros who is 5-2 with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP, so he’s a tough opponent. Trust Dave though. 

Mike Minor on the hill for the Texas Rangers tonight. Mike is having an awesome season with a 5-3 record, a 2.64 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In 64.2 innings, Mike has walked 20 and K’d 67. He’s coming off a 10-9 victory over Seattle in which he actually pitched well before the bullpen kind of struggled. Mike got the victory going 6, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs, both earned, with 1 walk and 11 K’s. Mike has been spectacular this season. He’s hitting 95 with his fastball and his curve and changeup are close out pitches as well as his fastball. Mike very accurate. The Rangers are playing well at 25-23, 7 back of the Astros.Mike faces Tyler Skaggs and the LA Angels tonight. Skaggs is 4-4 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Sonny Gray pitches Monday versus the Pirates at home. Sonny had an awesome outing @ the very good Brewers Tuesday night going 6, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, with 4 walks and 9 K’s in the Reds’ 3-0 victory. Sonny moved to 1-4 on the season, with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He pitched well Tuesday and that’s a lot to build on. Sonny has walked 20 and struck out 57. If he can keep his control in good shape, Sonny will have an excellent season. The Reds are 23-27, but playing pretty well lately and only 6 1/2 back of the Cubs in the NL Central.

Our No.4 Men’s Golf team is presently in 13th place after finishing day 2 at even par as a team. We had a tough day yesterday at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark, shooting +19, but we came back today and played well. Harrison Ott shot -1, 71, Patrick Martin and John Augenstein shot even par 72, and Will Gordon shot +1 73.

The top 15 teams after round 3 tomorrow qualify for the final round of stroke play on Monday. After round 4, the top 8 teams compete in match play which begins Tuesday and the championship match is Wednesday. Got our work cut out for us, but fought hard today and had a good day. There are several teams left on the course including several behind us. So need another solid day tomorrow. No.1 Oklahoma State leads at -10. 

The 123rd edition of the French Open played at Roland Garros commences tomorrow. The Big Three Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are the heavyweights in the men’s field. On the women’s side, Serena is playing, but I don’t consider her a favorite. I’ll tell you whom I like in the women’s side shortly.

The Men’s and Women’s Final will both be televised by NBC, with the women’s side starting Saturday, June 8th at 7 AM CT. on NBC The Men’s Final will commence Sunday, June 9th at 8 AM CT on NBC.

Men’s Semifinals

I like Rafa over Fed on the bottom half of the draw in straight sets

Nadal over Federer 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

I’ll take Djoker in the other semifinal over Juan Martin del Potro

Djokovic over Del Potro 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Men’s Final

It’s hard to go against the 32 year old Manacor Balaeric Islands, Spain. This is a tough out in Djoker though. Rafa has won 11 French Opens and 17 majors, and turns 33 on June 3rd. Djoker, the 32 year old (turned 32 on May 22nd) from Belgrade, Serbia has won the last 3 slams, Wimbledon, the U.S. and the Australian. He has 15 slams to his credit and has won the Australian 7 times. His only victory at Roland Garros is in 2016, where he defeated a struggling Nadal, at the time, in the quarters. Both are still chasing Roger Federer’s all time record of 20 Grand Slam titles. Rafa defeated Djoker in the Italian Open final 2 weeks ago, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. I like Rafa to emerge victorious for the 12th time at Roland Garros, but with a lot of resistance from Djoker.

Nadal over Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5

Women’s Final

I like 27 year old Karolina Pliskova, who just defeated Johanna Konta of Australia to capture the Italian Open championship 2 weeks ago, to finally break through and win her first Slam. I see the young Czech coming through in the clutch here after reaching the semis of the Australian this year already, reaching the semis at the French in 2017, and the final of the U.S.Open in 2016. She has a very good serve and is a consistent player on the court. She’s very steady with her ground strokes, has an excellent serve and has a good, serene mentality on the court. I’ll take Karolina over a compatriot of hers from the Czech Republic. 29 year old Petra Kvitova, who has won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. This will be a battle. I like Pliskovato to break through in Paris..

Karolina Pliskova over Petra Kvitova 7-5, 4-6, 7-5