Behind the portly but great first baseman Sonny DiChiara’s 2 run shot, his 22nd of the season, and some stellar closer pitching by Blake Burkhaltler, in which he earned his 15th save of the season, going 2.2 innings and giving up 0 runs on 0 hits with 0 walks and 5 strikeouts, the Auburn Tigers advanced to the College World Series by defeating the third overall seed in the tournament, Oregon State, 4-3, at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon last night.

The Tigers, seeded 14th overall in the NCAA Tournament, moved to 42-20 on the season and now take on the Ole Miss Rebels (37-22), which defeated 11th seeded Southern Miss at Hattiesburg on Sunday. The Tigers will square off with the Rebs at 6 PM Saturday on ESPN2. The other teams and games in the CWS at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, the center of the college baseball universe, are fifth seeded Texas A&M (42-18) vs. unseeded Oklahoma (42-22) to lead off things Friday at 1 PM CT on ESPN. Ninth seeded Texas (47-20) plays unseeded Notre Dame (40-15) Friday at 6 PM CT on ESPN. The Fighting Irish pulled off a colossal upset of the No.1 team in the country for almost the entire season and the No.1 seed overall in the tournament, the Tennessee Volunteers, in the Super Regional at Knoxville, with a 7-3 victory on Sunday in game 3 of the best 2 out of 3 set. So that should be quite an interesting game as well. On Saturday, second seeded Stanford (47-18) faces unseeded Arkansas at 1 PM CT on ESPN, followed by the Tigers and the Rebels at 6 PM CT on ESPN2. The College World Series championship series will be played Saturday June 25th-Monday, June 27th, if necessary, in a best 2 out of 3 series. ESPN will televise the championship series and ESPN and the Deuce will televise throughout the 10 day spectacle. So a lot of stellar baseball ahead.

DiChiara hits .392 with 22 homers and 59 Ribeyes. He is a superstar for the Tigers at the plate. The team hits .287 collectively. and has hit 73 homers in 62 games. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.42. Sophomore right hander Joseph Gonzalez could be the starter on Saturday. Gonzalez is 7-3 with a 2.95 ERA with 14 walks and 47 K’s. Burkhalter was bringing the heat late in the game with his velocity at 95-97. He was just overpowering the hitters. Starter Mason Barnett was throwing hard at 95+ and landing his curveball. Carson Skipper was another flame thrower for the Tigers in middle relief last night. This team is known for its hitting, but it also possesses some big arms and the team fields at a .981 percentage. So, a lot to like about this AU team heading into Omaha. Ole Miss is led in hitting by veteran Tim Elko, who hits .302 with 22 homers and 71 Ribeyes. Kevin Graham leads the Rebels in hitting at ,.331. He has hit 10 homers and driven in 46. Ole Miss hits .279 as a team, their pitching staff’s ERA is 4.44 and their fielding percentage is .971. So the two staff’s ERA’s are almost exactly equal, but Auburn hits better and they field better. Junior right hander Dylan DeLucia, a junior college transfer, is 6-2, 4.35 ERA, and he could get the start Saturday Night for the Rebels.

Will have more in-depth coverage as the CWS progresses.

I like Auburn to win it all.

Auburn over Texas in 3

Stanley Cup Final Prediction

Colorado Avalanche vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Schedule

Games 1-4

Wednesday, June 15th, Tampa Bay at Colorado, 7 PM CT, ABC

Saturday, June 18th, Lightning at Avalanche, 7 PM CT, ABC

Monday, June 20th, Avalanche at Lightning, 7 PM CT, ABC

Wednesday, June 22nd, Avalanche at Lightning, 7 PM CT, ABC

Friday, June 24th, TB @ Avs, Game 5, if necessary, 7 PM CT, ABC

Sunday, June 26th, Avs @TB, Game 6, if necessary, 7 PM CT, ABC

Tuesday, June 28th, TB @Avs, Game 7, if necessary, 7 PM CT, ABC

As they say, the third time’s a charm, and I’ve been going back to the drawing board on these Stanley Cup predictions before and during the postseason. I was thinking after the season, maybe the Lightning will 3peat. Their talent is through the roof great. When you lose one of your superstars, center Brayden Point, in the second series of the playoffs against the Florida Panthers and still sweep them, a team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference and was the favorite to make it to the Finals out of the East, then play without him against the New York Rangers and handle them 4-2, you’ve got an exceptional team with exceptional talent. Center Steven Stamkos is a superstar along with Point, who will be back for this series, possibly in game 1 which is tomorrow night.. Left wing Ondrej Palat is a stud, right wing Nikita Kucherov is a stud. Victor Hedman is an enforcer on defense and a superstar. Andre Vasilevsky is a phenomenal goalie. I thought Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers might have the edge, but Vasilevsky proved his greatness throughout the series and in game 6 on Saturday at Tampa in a 2-1 Lightning series clinching victory. The Avalanche are young, athletic, extremely fast skaters, and highly skilled with their sticks. They finished with the best record in the NHL in the regular season. They have some young superstars led by center Nathan McKinnon. But I’m going to take the Lightning. Vasilevsky is an advantage in goal over Darcy Kuemper, the Lightning are a physical, athletic, highly skilled team, and their championship pedigree along with better talent will prove to be the difference.

Lightning in 6 over Avs

Conn Smythe Trophy Winner

Steven Stamkos

Braves Rolling

Atlanta Braves have now won 12 games in a row and look unstoppable at present. The only tough news is that stellar second baseman Ozzie Albies broke his foot last night and will be out for probably 2 months. His return could be mid to late August. So the Braves will have to survive that blow, but the team is playing extraordinarily well. The Braves are suddenly 35-27 and only 5 back of the New York Mets, which they were about 10 or 11 games behind not too long ago. The Braves play the Washington Nationals in game 2 in DC tonight at 6:05 CT, then face the Nationals Wednesday at 6:05 CT, have Thursday off, then are @ the Chicago Cubs this weekend. Like what my Vanderbilt guys are doing for the Bravos. Shortstop Dansby Swanson is hitting .292 now with 8 homers and 36 RBIs. Swanson was 2 for 5 last night with a homer and 4 Ribeyes in a Braves’ 9-5 victory over the Nationals. Another one of my VU brethren, Kyle Wright, has been lights out on the mound, going 7-3 with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP, walks plus hits per inning, super metric for pitching. He’s walked 25 and struck out 80. On Sunday in a 5-3 Braves victory over the Pirates, Wright went 6, gave up 5 hits, 3 earned with 2 walks and 7 K’s. The whole team is playing well. Adam Duvall is hot now after a slow start. Ronald Acuna is back with a vengeance after being injured for the first month of the season, and Marcel Ozuna had a big night last night. He’s a power bat. Third baseman Austin Riley is a big stick for the Braves as is new first baseman Matt Olson. Looks like Orlando Arcia will fill in for Albies, and Swanson and his teammates are confident that Arcia can handle the job. So a lot for Braves fans to be excited about.

Warriors 104, Celtics 94

The Golden State Warriors took a 3-2 lead in their series with the Boston Celtics after their victory at the Chase Center in SF last night. After Steph Curry had a brilliant game last Friday Night in Boston with 43 points, he was a little off last night finishing with 16 points on 7 of 22 from the field and 0 for 9 from 3, but small forward Andrew Wiggins came through with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Wiggins was the first pick in the 2014 NBA Draft out of Kansas after his freshman season, but had not fulfilled his potential until recently for Golden State. He’s becoming the player the scouts and pundits thought he’d be. Klay Thompson added 21 points including 5 of 11 from trifecta. So Thompson also picked up the slack. Game 6 is at Boston Thursday Night at 8 on ABC. If Curry can play like his usual self and get contributions like that from his teammates, the Warriors could very well close out the series on Thursday.

The U.S. Open

Big weekend for Boston as the 122nd U.S. Open starts Thursday at the Country Club in Brookline, MA. just outside of Boston. The LIV golf operation has made this a combustible situation leading up to the tournament, but this is the third major of the season on a classic course, the fourth time the Open has been contested at the Country Club with Curtis Strange winning the last one in 1988, and it doesn’t get any better than the U.S. Open on Father’s Day weekend. Preview/Prediction tomorrow.