Tag: Sonny DiChiara

Sonny D is back! DiChiara gets first start of season for Rocket City

“Sonny D” is back in the lineup for the Rocket City Trash Pandas after missing time due to an upper-body injury.

For the first time this season, former Auburn Tigers slugger [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag] has been activated by the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

After being sidelined due to an upper-body injury at the beginning of the season, DiChiara returned to the lineup on Thursday for Rocket City’s game on the road against the Montgomery Biscuits. In his return, DiChiara went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts but was involved in a double play while playing first base for the Trash Pandas in their 3-0 win at Riverwalk Stadium.

Last season DiChiara recorded 23 hits in 118 plate appearances for a batting average of .195. Additionally, the Homewood, Alabama native hit one home run, scored seven runs, drove in 10 runs, and stole one base.

DiChiara was selected 148th overall in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Angels in last year’s MLB Draft. He will be expected to make some noise in Double-A this summer and continue to climb the Minor League ladder.

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Auburn baseball flashback: the last time Auburn played Southeastern Louisiana

Auburn’s journey to Omaha in 2022 began with a 19-7 thrashing of Southeastern Louisiana in game one of the Auburn Regional.

Auburn baseball’s road to Omaha began at Plainsman Park against Southeastern Louisiana in game one of the Auburn regional.

The Tigers exploded for 11 runs in the first inning, with six of those runs coming off of home runs by switch-hitting [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag], who hit two home runs in the inning, one from each side of the plate.

The large lead in the 1st inning allowed Auburn to cruise to a 19-7 victory. Auburn ended the game with seven home runs. Foster ended the game with three home runs, [autotag]Nate LaRue[/autotag] recorded two, and [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag] and [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] each hit one. [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag] recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts in 5.0 innings on the mound.

The Tigers would keep their offensive firepower going over the final two games of the regional by defeating Florida State and UCLA by a combined score of 32-11. Auburn would then win the Corvallis Super Regional, and competed in the College World Series for the second time in three seasons.

This weekend, Southeastern Louisiana returns to Plainsman Park for a three-game set and hopes to get revenge on the Tigers.

Before the Tigers and Lions tussle in Plainsman Park, here’s a look back at Auburn’s 19-7 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in the 2022 Auburn regional.

Auburn vs. Indiana: How to watch, stream, listen to this weekend’s series at Plainsman Park

Auburn Baseball kicks off the 2023 campaign with a three-game series against the Indiana Hoosiers at Plainsman Park. Here’s everything you need to know.

Auburn Baseball welcomes Indiana to Plainsman Park this weekend, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

Auburn Baseball has had many questions surrounding its’ club heading into the 2023 campaign, which explains the lack of national recognition as Auburn is ranked in just two of the six national polls, with Perfect Game giving the Tigers their highest ranking at No. 17.

Auburn lost five pitchers from last season’s team in the first 12 rounds of the MLB Draft, which include closer [autotag]Blake Burkhalter[/autotag] and weekend starters [autotag]Mason Barnett[/autotag] and [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag]. The Tigers will be missing some notable power from [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag] as well.

Even though Auburn has brought in some talent to hopefully fill those needs, head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] still says there are plenty of questions left to answer.

“Even if you do bring in a top 10 class, even if you have five freshmen in the top 100, (there is) still guesswork,” Thompson said Thursday.

Auburn has played many intrasquad scrimmages this winter and has held practices against one another leading up to the season opener. Thompson feels that this weekend’s series against the Hoosiers will erase the guesswork that he and his staff have had to use.

“I’m excited for the season and for our players to play somebody else, the guesswork goes away tomorrow,” Thompson said ahead of Auburn’s series with Indiana. “We will know more come next Monday than we’ve known for months (about) who we are.”

Thompson says that this weekend’s opponent, Indiana, will match up well with his club, and that they have pieces that will truly test his mostly inexperienced squad.

“They have seven of their nine position players back. They have real power, they have an 18-home run guy (Matthew Ellis), a 19-home run guy (Carter Mathison), they have two or three guys that can steal a base if you are not aware of how to stop the run game, or slow it down a bit,” Thompson said. “Big swings if you make cripple pitches and do not get into some good sequencing of quality pitches, you’ll pay for it.”

You will find key information about this weekend’s series below, including a how-to-watch guide featuring links to all three games, a how-to-listen guide, weekend matchups, and a projected starting lineup.

Season Preview: Auburn Baseball’s top returning hitters from 2022 season

Here’s a look at the top sluggers that return from Auburn Baseball’s 2022 College World Series roster.

The Auburn Tigers are set to open the 2023 season on Friday, Feb. 17 against Indiana at Plainsman Park. While we count down the days, here’s a brief look at what to expect this season.

The first chapter of Auburn Wire’s baseball season previews will take a look at Auburn’s returning hitters from last season’s College World Series roster.

Auburn returns plenty of contributors to last season’s lineup and will see a lot of new faces at the plate as well. However, the caliber of bats that have since moved on to the professional ranks leaves a few questions for Auburn to answer.

The biggest void on this season’s roster is [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag], who was drafted 148th overall by the Los Angeles Angels and was immediately delegated to Double-A Rocket City. In his lone season on the Plains, DiChiara smashed 22 home runs and was responsible for 59 RBI.

Auburn will also be without [autotag]Blake Rambusch[/autotag], [autotag]Brooks Carlson[/autotag], and [autotag]Brody Moore[/autotag], who finished the season in the top-five of batting average last season behind DiChiara.

There are some familiar faces, however, who will return to the Auburn lineup this season including [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag], [autotag]Cam Hill[/autotag], [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag], and [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag], who all hit over .250 last season.

Here’s a look at the top returning bats to Auburn’s roster ahead of the 2023 season, based on last season’s batting average.

Auburn Baseball misses out on top 25 preseason ranking

Despite earning a bid to the College World Series in 2022, Auburn Baseball misses the cut in D1Baseball’s preseason ranking.

The Auburn Tigers had an incredible run to the College World Series in 2022.

Following an early exit from the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Auburn went on a tear through the Auburn Regional by outscoring Southeastern Louisiana, Florida State, and UCLA 51-18 in three games to set up a weekend slate at Oregon State. Auburn was able to knock off the Beavers in the Super Regionals to clinch a berth in the College World Series for the second time in three seasons.

Despite such a strong end to the 2022 season, it seems that Auburn will need to prove its worth to the voters this season.

D1Baseball recently released its preseason top 25 rankings. Nine SEC teams made the cut, with seven of those being placed in the top 10. Out of those nine teams, Auburn was not one of those.

While it is not known why Auburn did not make the preseason top 25, it may be due to the uncertainty surrounding Auburn’s roster. Pitching-wise, the Tigers will look to replace [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag] and [autotag]Mason Barnett[/autotag] in the rotation and [autotag]Blake Burkhalter[/autotag] in relief. Auburn will also be missing the bats of [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag], [autotag]Blake Rambusch[/autotag], [autotag]Brooks Carlson[/autotag], and [autotag]Brody Moore[/autotag].

Auburn will need to replace many key pieces of last season’s College World  Series team but is off to a great start as the incoming freshman class ranks No. 10 according to D1Baseball.

Auburn opens the season on Friday, Feb. 17 at Plainsman Park against Indiana. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.

Here’s a look at the initial top 25 from D1Baseball.com.

1 LSU
2 Tennessee
3 Stanford
4 Ole Miss
5 Texas A&M
6 Wake Forest
7 Florida
8 Arkansas
9 Oklahoma State
10 Vanderbilt
11 East Carolina
12 North Carolina
13 Maryland
14 Virginia Tech
15 TCU
16 Louisville
17 UCLA
18 Southern Miss
19 Virginia
20 Alabama
21 NC State
22 Miami
23 South Carolina
24 Texas Tech
25 Oregon

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Sonny DiChiara hits first professional home run

Watch Sonny DiChiara crush his first professional home run for the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

To say that former Auburn slugger [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag] is comfortable as a professional baseball player would be an understatement.

Since beginning his assignment on July 30 with the Los Angeles Angels’ double-A affiliate, the Rocket City Trash Pandas, DiChiara has racked up six hits and four RBI in five total games.

On Friday, he got to mark another “first” off of his checklist, hitting his first professional home run.

In the first inning of Rocket City’s 4-1 win over the Tennessee Smokies, DiChiara crushed a two-home blast to left field to give the Trash Pandas the early 4-0 lead. His home run was the second two-run shot of the inning for Rocket City.

DiChiara is quickly becoming a fan favorite among the Huntsville locals. He is currently batting .353 with a double, a home run, and four RBIs. So far into his assignment, DiChiara has split time between the designated hitter role in the lineup and his more familiar position, first base. In two games at first base, DiChiara is 21-for-21 in put-out opportunities.

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Baltimore Orioles agree to terms with Trace Bright

Contract details have emerged for RHP Trace Bright and the Baltimore Orioles.

Another key piece of Auburn’s rotation is officially going pro.

Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline has reported that the Baltimore Orioles have agreed to terms with their fifth-round selection, Auburn RHP [autotag]Trace Bright[/autotag].

Bright, who recorded 17 starts for Auburn in 2022, was taken with the 137th overall selection and has signed a contract worth $400,000, which is below slot value, but still considered a pretty hefty payday.

The Montgomery product ends his three-year stint at Auburn with an ERA of 6.01 in 139.1 innings of work. He struck out 149 batters and issued just 63 walks in 40 total appearances, posting a 10-9 record.

In 2022, Bright got the nod in 17 weekend games, and making one additional appearance as a reliever. In 18 appearances, Bright struck out 94 batters while issuing just 38 walks. His longest outing of the season was 6.0 innings, which he accomplished in three straight starts in nonconference weekend action.

His best outing came in the Auburn Regional against Southeastern Louisiana, where he struck out ten batters in Auburn’s 19-7 win over the Lions at Plainsman Park. Bright also got the start against Stanford in the College World Series, where he struck out eight batters in five innings of work in Auburn’s lone win in Omaha.

Bright becomes the fifth draft pick from Auburn to sign with an MLB Organization. Details have yet to emerge for [autotag]Brody Moore[/autotag] (517th overall pick by Cardinals), [autotag]Hayden Mullins[/autotag] (369th pick by Red Sox), and [autotag]Carson Skipper[/autotag] (326th pick by Rockies). It is expected that all three will sign with their respective organizations.

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Sonny DiChiara named All-American by D1Baseball

Sonny DiChiara was one of the best players in college baseball this season.

The awards keep on coming for [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag].

The Auburn slugger was named a First-Team All-American by D1Baseball last week at designated hitter. The Hoover, Alabama native has now made seven All-American teams and is the program’s third-ever consensus All-American in program history, joining Casey Mize and Frank Thomas.

He was named a first-teamer by D1Baseball, the ABCA, Baseball America, and Perfect Game. He made the second-team for the NCBW, Collegiate Baseball, and College Baseball Foundation.

DiChiara led the SEC in batting average (.383), slugging percentage (.777), on base percentage (.549), and walks (68).

His 22 home runs were good enough for fourth-most in the conference and the second-most in Auburn history, one behind the 23 Hunter Morris hit in 2010. He also drove in 53 runs and rewched base in 63 of Auburn’s 65 games this season.

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Auburn Baseball: Two Tigers earn All-American Honors

Auburn’s Sonny DiChiara and Blake Burkhalter earn more recognition for their impressive seasons.

Two of the SEC’s best players from the 2022 season have earned more hardware.

Auburn Baseball’s [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag] and [autotag]Blake Burkhalter[/autotag] have been recognized as All-Americans by two separate organizations.

DiChiara earned his 4th and 5th All-American honor for the season by being named a second-team All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Association, as well as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

DiChiara hit 22 home runs and sent 53 runs home to score in 2022. His 22 home runs were the fourth-most in the SEC, and the second-most home runs hit by an Auburn Tiger in program history, one behind Hunter Morris’ 23 in 2010. He was also walked 68 times this season, which is the most in the country.

The SEC’s save leader, Blake Burkhalter, was named second team All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Association.

Burkhalter appeared in a career-high 30 games this season on the mound, going 4-2 with 17 strikeouts and an SEC-best 16 saves in 46.1 innings. Some of his most notable outings this season included recording two saves for Auburn in their Corvallis Regional win, as well as recording the final six outs of the Auburn Regional championship game against UCLA.

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PHOTO GALLERY: Auburn drops game 2 to Oregon State

Here are the best images from game two of the Corvallis Super Regional between Auburn and Oregon State

Auburn will have to wait one more day for the chance to punch their ticket to Omaha, as they dropped game two of the Corvallis Super Regional to Oregon State on Sunday, 4-3.

Auburn could not quite get the bats going as they were only able to muster three total hits against Golden Spikes Award finalist Cooper Hjerpe, and grabbed just two more off of relief pitcher Ben Ferrer. While there were few, Auburn was able to take advantage of mistakes by the Beavers’ pitching staff, as they scored two of their three runs on wild pitches.

While you wait for game three between Auburn and Oregon State, take a look at the best images from game two.