AUBURN, Ala. – Sonny DiChiara and Blake Burkhalter have been named Second Team All-America by the College Baseball Foundation, and DiChiara also earned second team honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
The All-America honors are the fourth and fifth for DiChiara, who was previously named First Team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Perfect Game and Second Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball. The award is the second for Burkhalter, who earned Second Team All-America honors from the ABCA.
The recognition for DiChiara comes after already being named the SEC Co-Player of the Year, First Team All-SEC, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
DiChiara finished the season as the league leader in average (.383), on-base percentage (.549) and slugging percentage (.777). His on-base clip is second in the country and is 42 points higher than any other SEC player in the last 10 full seasons.
A native of Hoover, Alabama, DiChiara is tied for second among active Division I players with 63 career home runs, four of which came in the NCAA Tournament. His 22 homers this season were good for the fourth most in the SEC and the second most in program history, one shy of 2010 SEC Player of the Year Hunter Morris.
DiChiara drew 68 walks this season, the most in the country and the second most in the team's single-season history, and reached base in all but two games, including multiple times on 49 occasions.
Burkhalter, who was named Second Team All-SEC and a finalist for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year award, leads the conference and ranks second in the country with 16 saves, tied for the second most in program history and the most since 2003.
The junior righty recorded the final six outs of Auburn's regional championship against UCLA and notched a pair of saves in the Corvallis Super Regional against Oregon State, retiring all eight batters he faced. Burkhalter then recorded the last seven out of Auburn's College World Series win against Samford to record his 16th save.
Burkhalter has posted a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA and has struck out 71 batters to go along with issuing only seven walks in 46.1 innings.
A native of Dothan, Alabama, Burkhalter earned three saves in as many appearances during the team's sweep of South Carolina, becoming the first player in program history and the first in the league since 2017 to accomplish the feat.
