Arizona

Arizona softball’s 2025 nonconference schedule has a Pac-12 flavor

Published

1 year ago

December 19, 2024

Arizona softball’s 2025 nonconference schedule has a Pac-12 flavor

Looking for a tough nonconference schedule? Have some Pac-12 nostalgia? Arizona softball has it covered.

The Wildcats released their full schedule on Thursday morning, adding the nonconference slate to the previously released Big 12 schedule. It has something to please everyone.

Arizona will keep rivalries with former Pac-12 opponents Washington, Stanford, and UCLA. They will bring Alabama and Texas to Tucson and play home and away against Cal State Fullerton. In total, the Wildcats will play 12 teams that made the NCAA tournament last season and appear in 32 games at Hillenbrand Stadium.

Things kick off with the Candrea Classic at Hillenbrand Stadium from Feb. 6-9, 2025. First on the slate is a doubleheader against Michigan State on Thursday, Feb. 6. The Spartans finished 21-30 overall last year and went 7-16 in the Big Ten but had a five-game winning streak to end the season.

That game heads straight into the land of the Pac-12 with the first of two games against the Washington Huskies on Friday, Feb. 7. It’s the first game of a Friday night doubleheader with the second game against Western Michigan. The Wildcats will play UW a second time on Sunday, Feb. 9.

The Huskies went 32-10 overall last season. They were 13-10 in their final Pac-12 season. They beat Arizona 2-1 in their series in Tucson. Their season ended in the Columbia Regional with a loss to Missouri. They went 1-2 in the postseason.

Saturday, Feb. 8 will feature Alabama. The Crimson Tide were 39-20 last year. They went 10-14 in the SEC. They advanced to the Women’s College World Series, going 1-2 and bowing out to Florida. They defeated Arizona twice during the regular season in Tuscaloosa.

Arizona hosts the Bear Down Fiesta the weekend of Feb. 13-16. The Wildcats will play South Alabama on Thursday, Feb. 13 and again on Friday, Feb. 14. They face Fullerton on Feb. 14 and Sunday, Feb. 16. Ohio is on the slate on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Arizona played South Alabama in Tuscaloosa last year. The game ended in a 1-1 tie after 11 innings due to the “drop dead time.” The Jaguars ended their year 34-20-1 overall and 16-8 in the Sun Belt Conference. They went 2-2 at the Gainesville Regional, losing twice to host team Florida.

Fullerton was 39-19 overall in 2024. The Titans ended Big West play 22-5. They went 3-2 at the Stanford Regional, beating the host Cardinal and ranked Mississippi State once each.

The Ohio Bobcats were 31-24 last season. They finished 18-8 in the MAC. Their season ended with a loss to Ball State in the MAC Tournament.

The Wildcats stay home for the third week in a row to host the Hillenbrand Invitational from Feb. 20-23. The featured teams this weekend are Stanford and Texas, with the Cardinal playing UA twice.

Things start on Thursday, Feb. 20 with the Cardinal. The two teams will face off again on Sunday, Feb. 23.

Stanford will be a different team this season without NiJaree Canaday, whom Arizona will face in Big 12 play against Texas Tech. However, the Cardinal have advanced to the WCWS the last two seasons. They went 57-17 in 2024, finishing 17-7 in their last Pac-12 season.

The Cardinal went 2-1 against Arizona in Tucson last season. They went 2-2 in Oklahoma City, losing 1-0 to national runner-up Texas in their final game.

In between the two games against Stanford, the Wildcats will play UC Davis twice, once on Feb. 20 and once on Feb. 21. The game against the Aggies on Friday will be followed by a game against Colorado State. Saturday, Feb. 22 will feature Texas.

The Aggies were 21-29 overall and 12-15 in the Big West. The Rams went 26-21 overall and 9-12 in the Mountain West.

Texas was ranked No. 1 for a good chunk of 2024. The Longhorns went 55-10 overall and 23-4 in their final Big 12 season. They went 3-2 in Oklahoma City, losing the championship series to Oklahoma in two straight games.

The Wildcats play their first road game in a one-off at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, Feb. 26. LMU was 28-25 last season. The Lions finished 9-7 in the WCC.

The trip to Southern California continues on the return games at Cal State Fullerton from Feb. 28-Mar. 2. The Wildcats face the Wildcats of Weber State first on Friday, Feb. 28. They play the host Titans immediately following in a doubleheader.

Weber State finished 22-28 overall and 8-7 in the Big Sky in 2024.

Saturday, Mar. 1 features another doubleheader. First up is Notre Dame. Longtime rival UCLA follows.

The Bruins were 43-12 last year. Their last year in the Pac-12 ended with a 17-4 record. They won the series against Arizona 2-1 in Los Angeles. They then defeated Arizona by the score of 6-5 in the Pac-12 Tournament. They went 1-2 in Oklahoma City, losing back-to-back against Oklahoma and Stanford.

Things wrap up on Mar. 2 against San Diego State. The Aztecs finished 31-20 overall and 15-7 in the MWC last season. They went 0-2 in the Los Angeles Regional, losing to Virginia Tech and GCU.

Arizona returns home to start Big 12 play against UCF on Friday, Mar. 7, but they will play another one-off nonconference game against Utah State on Monday, Mar. 10. The Aggies were 22-28 last year and 5-17 in the MWC.

A Big 12 home series against Utah will be followed by a road game at GCU on Wednesday, Mar. 19. The Lopes had a 50-13 finish overall last season. They were 23-3 in the WAC. They lost 3-2 at Arizona on Apr. 30, 2024.

GCU went 2-2 at the Los Angeles Regional, a run that included defeating 17th-ranked Virginia Tech to advance to the regional final.

The next five weekends find the Wildcats facing Big 12 foes Arizona State, BYU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas Tech before another nonconference doubleheader.

The New Mexico State Aggies come to Tucson for a doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 22. The Aggies were 30-25 last year. They went 13-11 in Conference USA. Arizona defeated them twice in Las Cruces.

The Wildcats return to Southern California for two more games against San Diego State to complete their Big 12 bye week. The games will be held on Friday, Apr. 25 and Saturday, Apr. 26.

Arizona finishes the Big 12 regular season at Houston from May 2-4 before heading to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 Tournament May 7-10.

Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics

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Arizona

Arizona DPS trooper, suspect wounded near I-17

Published

6 hours ago

February 6, 2026

Press Room

Arizona DPS trooper, suspect wounded near I-17

An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper and a suspect were injured by gunfire while an agency SWAT team was serving a high-risk search warrant Feb. 5.

At least one trooper was wounded and taken to a hospital, DPS said in a statement. The suspect, also wounded, was taken into custody, DPS said.

The troopers were serving the warrant in the 2400 block of West Indian School Road, DPS said. Traffic on nearby Interstate 17 was disrupted by the large police presence.

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Arizona

Why Last 2 Games Will Help Arizona in Long Run

Published

18 hours ago

February 5, 2026

Press Room

Why Last 2 Games Will Help Arizona in Long Run

The Arizona Wildcats have been tested over the last week. The Wildcats have gotten the best out of their recent Big 12 rivals. That is because right now, the Wildcats are the best team in College Basketball, and they are leading every poll and every projection to have the top overall seed in March Madness. When you are the top team in the Nation and in your conference, you’re going to get the best out of your opponents, because they want to take you down.

Even more so when you are unbeaten. That is what this Arizona team is at right now. They are unbeaten and playing good basketball. Head coach Tommy Lloyd wants to be playing great basketball. Lloyd knows his team’s last two games have not been their best, but he also knows that those types of games will help this team in upcoming games and will help them in the biggest games later this season. That is the most important thing: learning from these games.

Jan 31, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley (0) and forward Koa Peat (10) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Arizona will get better because of last two games

“They’re very important,” Tommy Lloyd said. “These games are great. It’s a great opportunity in these games to learn a lot of things, and you always respect competition. You always respect the other coach. I tell our guys, like, listen, that other coach has a right to tell his team to do whatever they want to do. We’ve got to be ready for all this stuff. We’ve got to be ready to make adjustments. They have as much time to prepare as we do, so they’re going to throw things at us.”

“We always respect that, and we want to learn from these situations. They did a few things differently, ASU did, in the first half of the game than they had done in our place, and then those are good adjustments, and then we kind of figured out what they were doing and figured out different ways we felt like we could find advantages.”

Jan 31, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Arizona will be back in action on Saturday and will look to remain unbeaten at home against its Big 12 rival, Oklahoma State. That is going to be another team that will give the Wildcats their best shot. It is going to be interesting to see if the Wildcats will improve and not let the Cowboys hang around and make them think they have a shot to win this game. Arizona has to handle its business and put this game out of reach early on and play well for 40 minutes.

Tell us your thoughts on the Arizona Wildcats by commenting on our Facebook page. Also, be sure to follow @NateMartTSports on X for updates on all things Arizona Wildcats.

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Arizona

Arizona Diamondbacks 2026 Non-Roster Invitees, Part 2

Published

1 day ago

February 5, 2026

Press Room

Arizona Diamondbacks 2026 Non-Roster Invitees, Part 2

We move on to the slew of right-handed pitchers present as NRIs to spring training this year. There are no fewer than fourteen, so this will take us a few installments! A lot of relief arms: all five in this edition are potential help for the bullpen, though perhaps not as soon as this season.

Campbell is the first man born in Portugal to reach the majors in almost a hundred and fifty years, since the Madeira-born Frank Thompson in 1875. Isaiah was born when his father was serving there in the Air Force. He debuted in 2023 with the Mariners, and had a fine rookie campaign, posting a 2.83 ERA across 27 relief appearances. He has struggled since, missing much of 2024 with elbow inflammation. Last year, he pitched mostly for Triple-A Worcester, and had a 3.90 ERA for them, but couldn’t find success in the big leagues with the Red Sox. He’s not a terrible depth piece and, with just over a year’s service time, comes with a lot of team control.

A career minor-leaguer, Carrillo has bounced around since 2017, and only made two appearances above Double-A in that time. Now aged 27, he has seen time with the Dodgers, Nationals and Rangers organizations, before signing a minor-league deal for the D-backs. He actually appeared in the Arizona Fall League, back in 2019. Last year, he had a 3.59 ERA for Double-A El Paso, and over the winter had a 2.19 ERA for Jalisco in the Mexican League, though his K:BB ratio was an unimpressive 4:4 over 12.1 innings. He’s probably most famous for being part of the Max Scherzer + Trea Turner deal between Los Angeles and Washington in July 2021.

This name, however, should be familiar, because Curtiss – with the extra S – appeared thirty times out of the Arizona bullpen in 2025 (pictured, top). He didn’t do at all badly, getting a 3.93 ERA and 4.01 FIP. He got a decent 4.80 rating in our season review, but was outrighted off the 40-man roster at year end, and elected to become a free agent. However, he re-signed for the Diamondbacks on December 16, and the experience he picked up – Curtiss even notched a save – will stand him in good stead. He walked just five batters in 36.2 innings, and John should definitely be considered a contender for one of the open spots at the back of the 2026 bullpen.

Like Campbell, Dubin comes with major-league experience, having appeared 64 times for Baltimore and Houston, since making his MLB debut in June 2023. Last year, he started with the Astros, but was selected off waivers by the Orioles in August. All told, he had a 5.08 ERA over 33.2 innings, with a 28:11 K:BB. It’s possible health was an issue, as he was much better (1.33 ERA in 20.1 IP) before a forearm strain sent him to the IL for two months in June. Fun fact: Dubin originally intended to play soccer at college, and dropped out to work at Lowe’s. A friend convinced him to try out for the baseball team at Erie Community College… and here we are.

A 13th-round pick in 2023, Durke rocketed through the system last year, with stops at three levels. He started at High-A Hillsboro, where a 13.2 inning scoreless streak with 22 strikeouts led to him moving up to Double-A Amarillo. Despite its well-known reputation as a launching pad, Durke held his own, with a 2.31 ERA and 18:6 K:BB across 11.2 frames. He was then sent to Reno and… [loud buzzing sounds of static] Yeah, it didn’t quite go as well there, his control evaporating to the tune of more than a walk per inning, and a 9.53 ERA in 17 games. Still, he’s only 23, so has time to figure it out.

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