Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
US bombs Iran nuclear sites: Arizona veterans, lawmakers react
PHOENIX – Arizona is home to many veterans, some of whom have fought directly against Iranian forces in recent years.
What they’re saying:
Conflict in the Middle East may seem far from us, but there are veterans right here in the Valley who know firsthand the weight of every military action.
“We can’t, the United States can’t allow them to have a nuclear weapon,” an Arizona Army veteran said, sharing his thoughts on the news of June 21’s airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear sites, including his hopes that Iranian civilians stay safe. “We have a heck of a lot of good Iranian people here and the whole country over there is almost all good Iranian folks, they just have the wrong leadership.”
That leadership is also tied to the Tower 22 drone strike that killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan in January 2024. One of the wounded, Sergeant and Arizona State graduate Aneska Holness, spoke with FOX 10 after the deadly strike.
“I was in one of the rooms, buildings that were hit. It’s honestly just waking up to chaos,” Sgt. Holness said. “It was very unexpected. I don’t think anybody really thought that that would happen while we were there.”
Other Arizona National Guardsmen and women wounded in the attack received a homecoming last August in Phoenix. “They just have so much to be proud of, and they are the heroes they think they are,” a speaker at the event said.
The next steps are not yet clear, with peace and the possibility of further action both on the table. “I appreciate the Iranian people and I do have friends who are Iranian and I don’t want any of them to get hurt,” one veteran stated.
President Trump said, “This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.”
The U.S. did launch retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria after the Tower 22 attack.
Arizona lawmakers respond
Arizona lawmakers are weighing in on the attacks in Iran. Rep. Andy Biggs (5th District) says he’s grateful US troops made it out of the Middle East safely.
On social media, Sen. Mark Kelly praised members of the military and intelligence community for their service, but also expressed concern about the attacks, saying this may put the US on the edge of war with Iran – and that the US must keep Iran from a full retaliation.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (3rd district) called the military action against Iran illegal and “without congressional authorization.”
She expressed concerns about US involvement in another war.
The congresswoman is also calling for an emergency session of Congress to vote on the War Powers Resolution.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (6th District) says the president made the right decision, and we owe our military a tremendous debt of gratitude.
Rep. Greg Stanton (4th District) says “President Trump must immediately reassure the American people of how he will protect the safety of our troops and allies in the region, and move us toward de-escalation and ultimately peace.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego stated, “We have yet to see any evidence to prove that tonight’s strikes were necessary to protect U.S. national security. “
Rep. Abe Hamadeh tweeted, “The days of Iran’s nuclear blackmail are over.”
In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.
We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.
Cardinals 4-round mock draft
Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.
- Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
- Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
- Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
- Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber
What we think of the picks
The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.
Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.
Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.
Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.
Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State
Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.
Concern level 0/10
There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.
His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.
He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
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