1st Down: Two elimination games took place on Tuesday at the College Baseball World Series, and the two teams that went home were Notre Dame and #14 Auburn. The Fighting Irish fell 5-1 to Texas A&M in the opener as the Aggies pitching staff held their foes to just five hits overall in the nine innings while the Arkansas Razorbacks demolished the Tigers 11-1 in an all-SEC showdown. Peyton Stovall had five hits and three RBIs while Chris Lanzilli hit a two-run homer and had three total RBIs in the rout. That means the Aggies now will take on Oklahoma while Ole Miss awaits for Arkansas as a spot in the three-game finals looms large.
2nd Down: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Auston Matthews was named MVP of the NHL on Tuesday when he received the Hart Trophy. Matthews also took home the honor of winning the most outstanding player award, called the Ted Lindsay Award, following a season in which he led the league with 60 goals. It was the second season in a row in which he led the league with that stat and he holds the distinction of being the highest-scoring American in a season ever. Connor McDavid of the Oilers came in second and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers came in third in the MVP voting. Colorado’s Cale Makar took the best defenseman award (the Norris) while Shesterkin won the Vezina for best goaltender.
3rd Down: Brooks Koepka’s name is no longer on the entry list for this weekend’s Travelers Championship according to the PGA Tour. Koepka, it appears, will be making his way to the LIV Golf Invitational Series as had been reported earlier in the day, becoming one of the bigger and younger names to have joined the fledgling series thus far. While the #19 ranked player, a four-time major winner, has not officially been named as a member of the new league, that is expected to happen soon. In addition to that, we also now know that the British Open will allow LIV players to compete this year.
4th Down: Rob Gronkowski is no longer an NFL player. The 33-year-old tight ends have come out of retirement once, to reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay, and many are expecting a similar situation to occur somewhere down the line after this second hanging up of the cleats. Gronkowski has struggled with injuries over the years, but he has won four Super Bowls and scored tons of big touchdowns during an excellent career. We’ll see if, or how long, this one lasts!
