Black opens season tonight with Danville

Former Billings Scarlet outfielder Justin Black will make his 2013 debut this evening when the Danville Braves host the Princeton Rays at 5 pm EST in the Appalachian League opener for both teams.

Black is one of five outfielders listed on the Danville roster.

The 20-year old spent 2012 with the Gulf Coast League Braves where he hit just .182 in 41 games with five extra base hits including two home runs.

Defensively, Black turned in a .986 fielding percentage as he committed just two errors in 52 chances.

Danville is the Rookie League affiliate for the Atlanta Braves while Princeton represents the Tampa Bay Rays.

College World Series Pairings set

The 2013 College World Series field is finally set and it is shaping up to be a good one.

With North Carolina's 5-4 win over South Carolina on Tuesday, the top-seeded Tarheels locked up the tournament's final spot and set up a date with North Carolina State on Sunday in what should be one of the most thrilling games of the opening round.

The CWS kicks off on Saturday when third-seed Oregon State squares off with Mississippi State at 1 p.m. MST followed by Indiana and Louisville in the Saturday night cap at 6 p.m. MST.

The Tarheels and Wolfpack get things going on Sunday at 1 p.m. before LSU and UCLA wrap things up at 6 p.m.

All first-round games will be televised on ESPN2 with the exception of Indiana-Lousiville, which will air on ESPN.

Below are my first-round predictions.

(3) Oregon State vs. Mississippi State
The Beavers are playing as well as anyone in the country right now and shouldn't have much trouble in advancing past Mississippi State in the first-round.

Oregon State 5, Mississippi State 1

Indiana vs. Louisville
While this pairing screams Final Four instead of College World Series, it should be one of the best games of the week. Both teams come in to the CWS as unseeded and Indiana is making their first ever CWS appearance.

However, the Hoosiers should have confidence on their side as they took two out of three from the Cardinals in a March series in Bloomington, Indiana.

With that said, I'm going with Louisville.

Louisville 4, Indiana 3

(1) North Carolina vs. North Carolina State
It's easy to pick the top seeded Tarheels in this one.

However, North Carolina has looked less than dominant in regional and super-regional play as they needed three games to advance past South Carolina in last weekends super regional and dropped a game to Florida Atlantic setting up a win-or-go home- situation in the regional tournament.

NC State 3, North Carolina 1

(4) LSU vs. UCLA
UCLA and LSU both swept their Super-Regional opponents and looked good in doing so.

The Tigers allowed just one run to an Oklahoma team that many felt could challenge for the title while the Bruins swept 50-plus win Cal State Fullerton by scores of 5-3 and 3-0.

UCLA 3, LSU 1