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Tragic news ... James Madison University softball star Lauren Bernett -- who was just named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week on Monday -- has died, the school announced.

She was just 20 years old.

In a statement announcing the sad news Tuesday morning, JMU officials did not reveal a cause of death ... but said the tragedy was "devastating."

"Our hearts are aching, hearing the news of the loss of one of our student-athletes," officials said ... "We are a tight family. We are grateful that Lauren has been part of our JMU Athletics community and will always consider her to be a Duke. We will miss her dearly."

Bernett, a sophomore, was a star catcher for the Dukes ... and had just had arguably her best week ever on the diamond for JMU.

In a game against College of Charleston on April 16, she recorded three hits and seven RBIs -- a JMU record. Just days later, in a series against Drexel on April 23, she logged hits in seven of her nine at-bats.

On Monday, the CAA handed her its Player of the Week award for her performances.

Bernett -- who was batting .336 this season with nine home runs -- was also a key contributor to the James Madison squad that made a deep run in the 2021 Women's College World Series.

"We love you, Lauren," the JMU softball team said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The team has canceled its Wednesday doubleheader against Longwood in wake of Bernett's death.

Here's more proof Mike Tyson didn't have a care in the world after beating up an alleged heckler on a plane last week -- with the boxing legend laughing his ass off on the phone moments after the incident.

TMZ Sports has obtained video of Iron Mike in the San Francisco International Airport after being escorted off his plane to Florida around 10:49 PM on Wednesday ... and the former champ looks happy as a clam as he chats it up on his cell.

A witness tells us Tyson was surrounded by cops ... and was speaking with one of the officers following the incident.

As we previously reported, Tyson was all smiles with a fan as he exited his JetBlue gate ... an interaction that went down just minutes after he was caught on video throwing punches at Melvin Townsend III.

While Tyson doesn't seem to be sweating the whole incident, he could still face legal action ... as Townsend lawyered up with Matt Morgan from Morgan & Morgan.

A rep for Tyson told us the passenger was clearly intoxicated and the altercation broke out after a water bottle was thrown at him ... but Morgan denies his client ever threw anything.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim is taking a break from competitive snowboarding -- saying she needs time to "reset" and focus on her mental health.

Kim -- who started snowboarding at 4 years old -- is coming off a huge victory in the 2022 Winter Olympics ... winning a gold medal in the halfpipe event.

The 22-year-old says it was fun but exhausting ... and will take this season off to get herself right.

"I will be taking a full season off of competition just for my mental health," Kim said on Cheddar News last week.

"Just want to reset. Don't want to get right back into after such a fun but draining year at the same time."

This isn't the first time Kim has taken a break from boarding ... after winning the gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics, she took the following season off and went to Princeton University to study anthropology.

Kim says going to the prestigious school was "refreshing," and being around people who weren't snowboarders or athletes helped.

"It was nice to know I can make friends with people that weren't snowboarders or in the industry," she said. "It's just nice to have that separation and to get away from the thought of working."

Kim does plan on returning for the 2026 Games in Italy -- saying, "I just want to enjoy this moment, take it all in and then get back to it when I feel like I'm ready."

"As of now, the plan is most definitely to go after a third medal."

Besides the two Olympic gold medals, Kim is also a six-time X Games gold medalist and is the first to win the championship in all four major events (World, Olympic, Youth Olympic and X Games).

Terrifying scene at a youth baseball game in South Carolina on Monday night ... a flurry of gunshots erupted near the diamond -- sending kids running in fear.

The incident -- which happened at around 8:44 p.m. at a local park in North Charleston -- was captured on video sent to ABC News 4 from a viewer ... showing as kids were playing in a game, dozens of gunshots rang out from a nearby parking lot.

According to the North Charleston Police Department, witnesses said the gunfire happened shortly after a large group of teenagers got into a fistfight in the area. Cops say the teens opened fire on each other following the physical altercation, but fled the area before officers arrived.

Police say three cars were hit by bullets during the incident ... but somehow, no one was injured.

As for the baseball game, you can see in video, coaches and players were horrified by it all -- with kids hitting the ground in an attempt to avoid any stray bullets.

A spokesperson for the NCPD said Tuesday morning the gunfire had nothing to do with the game ... adding that the mayor of North Charleston was "appalled by what he heard and saw."

The spokesperson said an investigation into the incident is underway ... explaining, "We will leave no stone unturned in bringing these suspects to justice."

Cops also said they're looking into ways they can make parks and playgrounds in the area safer -- and are providing resources to the kids who were affected by the terrifying incident.

The L.A. Rams don't have any picks until the 3rd round of the 2022 Draft, so they spent their extra time making an over-the-top, insanely-produced movie trailer leading up to this week's event ... and it's completely bonkers.

The Super Bowl champs dropped the nearly 3-minute clip for the fake movie, "On The Clock," on Tuesday ... with some huge names in Hollywood taking on the roles of the Rams' most important figures -- Dennis Quaid as owner Stan Kroenke, Josh Holloway as GM Les Snead, Tyrese Gibson as Raheem Morris and Scott Eastwood as Sean McVay.

Rams superstars Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford and Jalen Ramsey even joined in on the fun and showed off their acting chops ... playing dramatized versions of themselves.

The action is something like "Ocean's 11" meets "The Italian Job" ... and basically, the Rams wanted to come up with a fun way to say, "hey, we're going to come away with the best draft class, despite giving up all our best picks."

The team's description of the project goes as follows -- "Hot on the heels of their thrilling Super Bowl LVI victory, the Los Angeles Rams are determined to do the near-impossible: make lightning strike twice."

"On one of football's biggest nights – the NFL Draft – Los Angeles Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke assembles his team to infiltrate the high-profile affair in Sin City and do what they – and no one else – does best: steal the draft."

Kyrie Irving is admitting it ... his COVID vaccine drama did become a "distraction" for him and his teammates this season.

Irving -- who was forced to sit out a large portion of the year after refusing to get the shots -- said following the Brooklyn Nets' 4-0 series sweep to the Boston Celtics on Monday night that his unvaccinated status did have a big effect on his team this year.

"It was just really heavy emotionally this season," Irving told reporters after the Nets' 116-112 Game 4 loss. "We all felt it. I felt like I was letting the team down at a point where I wasn't able to play."

"We were trying to exercise every option for me to play, but I never wanted it to just be about me. And, I think it became a distraction at times."

You'll recall, Irving was initially barred from Nets games and practices over his vaccine choice. He was later allowed to play in road games for the team, but not home ones due to New York mandates.

And, by the time Irving was fully allowed to suit up for Brooklyn ... the team had developed just too many issues on top of the whole ordeal to gel in time for a deep playoff run.

Head coach Steve Nash said following the loss Tuesday night it all certainly weighed on the team.

"I think that's a big reason why we were in that position," Nash said, "a lack of continuity."

Benzino doesn't appear to have been able to lure 50 Cent into a boxing ring, so he's settling for the next best opponent ... and, apparently, that's Aaron Carter.

Damon Feldman of Celebrity Boxing tells TMZ ... the former pop star is lacing up his gloves again this summer to fight the "Love & Hip Hop" star in the main event. We're told both contracts have been signed ... and they're slugging it out on June 11.

The match is set to go down at the Charles Dodge Center in Pembroke Pines, FL -- and Feldman says BitCoin Rodney is promoting it. Aaron is stepping up for 50 Cent ... whom DF and co. weren't able to book.

Despite the bad blood between Benzino and Fitty -- including the recent back and forth claims of outing attempts and alleged federal snitching -- it doesn't appear 50 was interested in settling their beef with hands ... dude's been mum on their public challenge.

Aaron, however, is coming back for seconds -- you'll recall ... he got pummeled by Lamar Odom last year, where he was greatly outsized. Benzino's also bigger than him, but it sounds like Aaron doesn't care ... and wants his shot to redeem himself.

No word on how much either of these guys is making for going 3 rounds, but ya gotta figure it's a sizable amount for them ... especially if Aaron's coming back after that ass-whoopin'.

Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will make history Saturday night when they headline the first-ever female main event at Madison Square Garden ... but the fight's a lot more than the answer to a future trivia question -- Taylor tells us this fight could be remembered like Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier I.

... which also went down at the "world's most famous arena."

TMZ Sports talked to the 35-year-old undefeated champ (20-0, 6 KO's) ahead of her April 30th DAZN scrap with 33-year-old Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KO's) -- a fight that's hyped up women's boxing -- so we asked Katie if there would be a carry-over effect which would elevate the sport for years to come.

"I think so. I think the fight on Saturday night is going to absolutely be awe-inspiring for people. I feel like where our matchups are stylistically we match up very very well. I feel and it's going to make for a phenomenal fight and I think this fight is going to be talked about for years and years to come."

Taylor continued ... "I've even talked about every time you say 'Madison Square Garden' you think of the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. These kinds of fighters -- fights that we still talk about to this day. So I feel like the fight between myself and Amanda will be talked about for years and years to come as well. And absolutely think there will be follow-through, carry on with regards to the payday as well."

Sure, Ali-Frazier is one of the greatest rivalries -- not just in boxing, but sports in general -- so comparing any fight to the March 1971 matchup will be viewed as blasphemous.

But, that's not what Katie's saying. Her point is the fight -- pitting arguably the two greatest female boxers against one another -- is going to be incredible, and could change women's boxing in an array of ways ... including fan interest and pay.

Bottom line for Taylor ... "Biggest fight of my career and a moment in history and this is really stuff of dreams."

Trevor Bauer is now suing the San Diego woman who accused him of sexual assault ... with the MLB star claiming she made up allegations against him in order to ruin his baseball career and extract money from him.

The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, was filed in California on Monday. The docs show Bauer is suing both Lindsey Hill and one of her attorneys, Fred Thiagarajah, over what he claims are fabricated sexual assault allegations.

Bauer, as he's done repeatedly since Hill initially accused him in 2021, completely denied having non-consensual sex with the woman.

Bauer also, once again, denied ever choking Hill without her consent. He also denied ever punching or scratching her.

Bauer did acknowledge that the two had sex on two occasions -- one in April 2021 and one in May 2021 -- but he claimed over and over again in the suit that the actions during those encounters were consensual.

In his suit, Bauer claims despite consenting to "rough sex," Hill falsely filed a police report against him and accused him of sexual assault in order to sink his baseball career and to try to reach a financial settlement with him. Bauer also claims in the suit that Thiagarajah helped her perpetuate the false allegations.

He also says the two photographs of Hill's alleged injuries were altered and filtered to make them look worse than they were.

In the lawsuit, Bauer said he was filing the action in order to "expose and seek redress for the false and malicious statements and related conduct of Ms. Hill and Mr. Thiagarajah."

He's suing for damages.

As we reported, several months after Hill made her allegations against Bauer ... prosecutors declined to charge the L.A. Dodgers pitcher, saying in a statement, "the People are unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt."

Matthew Stafford's wife just shared some sad news ... their beloved dog, Marley, passed away on Monday -- and the family is completely devastated.

The L.A. Rams quarterback and his wife got Marley right when Stafford was drafted into the NFL ... and Kelly says she "immediately filled Matthew’s side of the bed."

"I woke up this morning without a face in front of me that I’ve been used to waking up to for the past 13 years," Kelly said.

Kelly noted Marley was their "first baby" before the married couple had four daughters together -- in fact, Marley helped announce one of those pregnancies by holding a sign "Mom's pregnant" back in 2016.

"I know it shouldn’t be a surprise, but I still can’t believe she is gone," Kelly said, "I’m devastated and this house just doesn’t feel as full as it once did."

Stafford also shared a 3-minute tribute video of Marley with the song "The Sun Is Rising" by Britt Nicole playing in the background.

"This song is what I feel like what Marley has said every time I was hurting and crying on her," Stafford said.

"I feel like she’s looking over me saying the same. Miss you sweet girl."

Antonio Brown just dropped his newest album, but he's already thinking about the next one -- the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout just revealed he only wants athletes featured on his follow-up project.

Brown -- who won a Super Bowl with Tom Brady in 2021 -- joined "TMZ Live" to discuss the success of his album "Paradigm" ... as well as what he's envisioning moving forward.

"The next album got to be with all athletes," Brown told Harvey and Charles. "We want to give every athlete a chance to be creative -- NBA, baseball, football players."

"We just want to give premier athletes the opportunity to express themselves, be themselves. I know a lot of players that do it on their own that may not put it out," Brown added.

AB's current album has features from some huge names in hip hop ... and the project has been doing well, with help from his friend, Kanye West.

Brown told TMZ Sports despite Ye not being featured on the album, Kanye had a significant hand in its production, with West overseeing everything and paying for a lot of studio time.

Of course, artists such as Fivio Foreign, DaBaby, Young Thug, and Keyshia Cole are all featured on the project ... but AB is eyeing names like Melvin Ingram, Shaquille O'Neal, Miles Bridges and Darren Waller next time.

Finally, AB admitted Shaq's success as an athlete and rapper helped motivate his side hustle ... and opened up about potentially working with him in the past.

"Absolutely, Shaq was the only athlete that made a successful album that actually went platinum," Brown said. "And he still was a great player."

"He changed the fact of athletes being one-dimensional."

Cleveland Guardians outfielder Myles Straw got right up in a Yankee fan's face and told him to "hit me, motherf***er" in the middle of a game over the weekend ... an altercation that resulted in spectators chucking trash in his direction.

The incident went down during the Yankees' walk-off win over the Guardians on Saturday ... after home fans allegedly mocked Steven Kwan for diving head-first into the outfield wall.

Straw was visibly upset with one of the fans in the front row ... climbing up on the fence and jawing at him.

A new video shows what exactly Straw said during the exchange ... in which he yelled, "hit me, motherf***er" repeatedly.

Of course, fans went after Straw again on Sunday ... calling him a "crybaby" and "Peter Parker" in reference to his wall climb.

Straw went off on Yanks fans in the locker rooms after the game ... referring to them as "the worst fan base on the planet."

No word on whether Straw will face any punishment for the altercation -- but bad interactions with fans are usually a big no-no.

South Carolina Gamecocks superfan Darius Rucker gave "Wagon Wheel" an R-rated upgrade during a concert this week ... getting the whole crowd to chant "f*** Tennessee" in the middle of it -- and it's incredible.

The Hootie and the Blowfish frontman was part of the South Carolina women's basketball championship party on Sunday night ... and naturally, he had to put his passion for the 'Cocks on full display.

In fact, when it came time to do his hit song, Rucker switched up the lyrics that go "But he's a-headin' west from the Cumberland Gap To Johnson City, Tennessee" ... and instead, had the whole arena scream "f*** Tennessee at the top of their lungs to show hate for the Volunteers.

The moment is awesome ... and is quite the proper way to celebrate South Carolina's epic win over UConn earlier this month.

Nelly was also present for the free concert ... so the night was truly one to remember.

Of course, we've seen stuff like this happen in the past ... with Justin Bieber trolling fans in Montreal over his allegiance to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Devastating news ... Sarah Shulze, a track star for the University of Wisconsin, has died, officials confirmed to TMZ Sports.

She was only 21.

The director for the Dane County Medical Examiner's office in Wisconsin tells us Sarah's death was ruled a suicide.

The Wisconsin Badgers released a statement ... saying, "The Wisconsin Athletics community is heartbroken by the unexpected passing of Sarah Shulze, a junior with the Badger women's track and field and cross country teams."

"Sarah was a beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, friend, teammate, and Badger student-athlete. We extend our deepest sympathies and sincere condolences to Sarah's family, friends, and Badger teammates during this extraordinarily difficult time."

"Our primary focus is the support of the Shulze family and our student-athletes," they added.

According to NBC, Sarah's family released a statement in the aftermath of her death ... saying, "Sarah took her own life. Balancing athletics, academics and the demands of everyday life overwhelmed her in a single, desperate moment. Like you, we are shocked and grief stricken while holding on tightly to all that Sarah was."

They continued ... "Above all other things, Sarah was a power for good in the world. Her deep compassion was evident in her devotion to her sisters Abbey and Ella, the love her parents felt from her every single day, and the extra care she took in moments shared with her grandparents and cousins."

R.I.P.

Bodybuilder Shane Post was shot in the torso after getting into a dispute with a neighbor over a parking space outside his Dallas, TX townhome last Tuesday ... and the man who allegedly pulled the trigger is now behind bars.

Thankfully, Shane, whose colon, liver, and kidney were damaged, is recuperating in the hospital ... and even had the strength to talk to a local news outlet, Pittsburgh Action News, from his ICU room.

"The bullet is still in me," the bodybuilder said.

Shane, who is in stable condition, is expected to remain in the hospital for a few more days at the very least.

The alleged shooter is a man named Nikki Brown. Police say he was still at the scene when they arrived following the shooting ... and was taken into custody. Brown was brought to Ellis County Jail, where he was booked for assault with a deadly weapon. He's since been released on bond.

As for why the shooting allegedly happened ... Shane's wife, Irina Post, says the man became angry when Shane's friend apparently pulled into his assigned parking spot while dropping off her husband.

Irina told the news outlet Mr. Brown -- who she says they've had a couple previous encounters with the neighbor -- came out in his robe with a loaded gun in his pocket.

Perhaps the worst part for the Post family ... Irina was standing outside with her and Shane's 3-month-old baby daughter when her hubby was shot.

Shane has been competing as a bodybuilder for years. He won the 2017 Mr. Pittsburgh competition.

Things got real between the L.A. Dodgers and San Diego Padres fans this weekend ... a bunch of brawls popped off at Petco Park, and the action was caught on video!

The series went down from Friday to Sunday ... and several fights broke out around the stadium. Men, women ... everyone partook in the fisticuffs.

In one of the more violent videos, you see two men wearing Padres attire goin' at it with two other guys rockin' L.A. gear -- as the men just tee off on each other.

Things took a scary turn at one point ... one of the guys seemingly slammed the back of his head on a metal bench.

Another showdown happened involving a big group of people ... and it was captured from two different angles.

Thankfully, stadium security eventually arrived and order was restored before the fight got any worse.

FYI, the Dodgers beat the Padres two out of three games ... and (thankfully) don't see each other again until 4th of July weekend.