Arizona pitcher Jackson Kent (Arizona Athletics photo)
There’s no place like home.
While Dorothy wasn’t able to attend, there were more than 90 “Totos” in attendance as Arizona Baseball held a Bark at the Park event Friday to kick off their non-conference three-game series against Louisiana Tech.
Arizona (19-13) returned to Hi Corbett after sweeping Cal in Berkeley, Calif., last weekend and beating Stanford at Palo Alto, Calif., on Monday, dominating in a 9-1 win over the Bulldogs.
With the win over Louisiana Tech (26-10), the Wildcats have won nine in a row, which ties the third-longest winning streak in the country. A 10th straight win on Saturday would tie Arizona’s longest winning streak since 2021.
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Arizona pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts on Friday night, and they retired the final 17 batters they faced.
Nine of those strikeouts came from Jackson Kent, who has emerged as a solid Friday starter tor the Wildcats. Kent’s nine strikeouts tied his career best.
“Basically just took it and ran with it. (Pitching coach) Kevin (Vance) and (director of player development) John (DeRouin) from the minute they saw him, they loved his stuff and they thought they could do some things, which they did,” Arizona coach Chip Hale said about Kent becoming the Friday starter.
Kent ended the night allowing three hits in seven innings, with a run, walk, hit-batter in addition to his nine strikeouts.
Dawson Netz fanned three in the eighth inning and Anthony Susac closed the game with three of his own strikeouts.
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Arizona’s bats were working all night as seven players combined for 12 hits.
Brendan Summerhill and Adonys Guzman led the way with three each.
Arizona grabbed the lead in the first inning when Richie Morales hit a leadoff single up the right gap. Morales stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Garen Caulfield grounded out to third brought Morales home.
Summerhill tripled to right center and was brought home off a Guzman single to right.
Hi Corbett magic showed up in the third inning when Arizona added a run off of a defensive bobble from the Bulldogs.
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With two out and Summerhill sitting at second base, Guzman hit a high pop up toward third base. Louisiana Tech third baseman Will Safford completely misjudged the ball and dropped it. Meanwhile, Summerhill was lightly jogging around third and into home.
The Wildcats scored four runs in the fifth.
Summerhill doubled down the right field line. It was a slow poke of a ball. Mason White (Salpointe grad) scored and Summerhill advanced to third on the throw. Summerhill was originally called out at third and immediately started signaling for a challenge. After review the call was overturned. Guzman singled to left bringing Summerhill home.
“He (Safford) tagged the ground, the ump called me out, it was a tough angle that he had. I was immediately like we should challenge that and it worked,” Summerhill said about the call at third.
Maddox Mihalakis singled to right, plating Easton Breyfogle and Corona scored on a wild pitch.
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Arizona’s final run came in the eighth inning when Guzman’s single through left brought White across the plate.
The Bulldogs scored their only run in the second inning when Jorge Corona doubled followed by an Adarius Myers double that scored Corona.
Arizona and Louisiana Tech play second game of their series on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
PAC-12 BASEBALL STANDINGS
Team
Rec
Pct
GB
Ovr
Pct
Stk
Oregon State
9-3
.750
–
28-4
.875
W7
Oregon
9-4
.692
0.5
24-9
.727
W2
ARIZONA
10-5
.667
0.5
19-13
.594
W9
Utah
8-5
.615
1.5
22-10
.688
W1
USC
9-6
.600
1.5
16-17
.485
L1
Stanford
6-7
.462
3.5
13-18
.419
L3
Washington State
7-9
.438
4
17-15
.531
L2
California
6-10
.375
5
18-14
.563
W2
Arizona State
6-10
.375
5
15-19
.441
L5
Washington
4-9
.308
5.5
10-16-1
.370
W1
UCLA
5-11
.313
6
12-19
.387
L3
Saturday’s schedule: Cal at Washington State, 2 p.m. USC at Oregon, 2 p.m. UCLA at Washington, 2:05 p.m. Stanford at Oregon State, 5 p.m. Louisiana Tech at Arizona, 6 p.m. Utah at Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.
A Pentecostal pastor in Louisiana charged with sexually molesting a teenage girl in his church has been convicted of indecent behavior with a juvenile – but was acquitted of the more serious crime of statutory rape.
Milton Otto Martin III, 58, faces up to seven years in prison and must register as a sex offender after a three-day trial in Chalmette, Louisiana, resulted in a guilty verdict against him on Thursday. His sentencing hearing is tentatively set for 15 January in the latest high-profile instance of religious abuse in the New Orleans area.
Authorities who investigated Martin, the pastor of Chalmette’s First Pentecostal Church, spoke with several alleged molestation victims of his. But the jury in his case heard from just two of them, and the charges on which he was tried pertained to only one.
That victim’s attorneys – John Denenea, Richard Trahant and Soren Gisleson – lauded their client for testifying against Martin even as members of the institution’s congregation showed up in large numbers to support him throughout the trial.
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“That was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen a young woman do,” the lawyers remarked in a statement, with Denenea saying it was the first time in his career he and a client of his needed deputies to escort them out the courthouse. “She not only made sure he was accountable for his crimes – she has also protected many other young women from this convicted predator.”
Neither Martin’s attorney, Jeff Hufft, nor his church immediately responded to requests for comment.
The documents containing Martin’s criminal charges alleged that he committed felony carnal knowledge, Louisiana’s formal name for statutory rape, by engaging in oral sex with Denenea’s client when she was 16 in about 2011. The indecent behavior was inflicted on her when she was between the ages of 15 and 17, the charging documents maintained.
A civil lawsuit filed against Martin in parallel detailed how he would allegedly bring the victim – one of his congregants – out on four-wheeler rides and sexually abuse her during breaks that they took during the excursions.
The accuser, now about 30, reported Martin to Louisiana state police before he was arrested in March 2023. Other accusers subsequently came forward with similar allegations dating back further. Martin made bail, pleaded not guilty and underwent trial beginning on Tuesday in front of state court judge Darren Roy.
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Denenea said he believed his client’s testimony on Wednesday was pivotal in Martin’s conviction, which was obtained by prosecutors Barry Milligan and Erica Moore of the Louisiana attorney general’s office, according to the agency.
As Denenea put it, it seemed to him Martin’s acquittal stemmed from uncertainty over whether the accuser initially reported being 16 at the time of the alleged carnal knowledge.
State attorney general Liz Murrill said in a statement that it was “great work” my Milligan and Moore “getting justice for this victim”.
“We will never stop fighting to protect the children of Louisiana,” Murrill said.
Martin was remanded without bail to the custody of the local sheriff’s office to await sentencing after the verdict.
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The lawsuit that Denenea’s client filed against Martin was stayed while the criminal case was unresolved. It can now proceed, with the plaintiff accusing the First Pentecostal church of doing nothing to investigate earlier sexual abuse claims against Martin.
The plaintiff also accused the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowships to which the Chalmette church belonged of failing to properly supervise Martin around children, and her lawsuit demands damages from both institutions.
Martin’s prosecution is unrelated to the clergy molestation scandal that drove the Roman Catholic archdiocese of nearby New Orleans into federal bankruptcy court in 2020 – but the two cases do share a few links.
State police detective Scott Rodrigue investigated Martin after also pursuing the retired New Orleans Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, a serial child molester who had been shielded by his church superiors for decades. Rodrigue’s investigation led to Hecker’s arrest, conviction and life sentence for child rape – shortly before his death in December 2024.
Furthermore, Denenea, Trahant and Gisleson were also the civil attorneys for the victim in Hecker’s criminal case.
Newlab New Orleans is deepening its energy-tech ambitions with a new partnership alongside JERA, Japan’s largest power generator, to accelerate next-generation carbon capture solutions for heavy industries across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, The Center Square writes.
The collaboration brings JERA Ventures into Newlab’s public-private innovation hub, where startups gain access to lab space and high-end machinery to commercialize technologies aimed at cutting emissions and improving industrial efficiency.
The move builds momentum as Newlab prepares to open its fifth global hub next fall at the former Naval Support Activity site, adding New Orleans to a network that includes Riyadh and Detroit. JERA’s footprint in Louisiana is already growing—from a joint venture on CF Industries’ planned $4 billion low-carbon ammonia plant to investments in solar generation and Haynesville shale assets—positioning the company as a significant player in the state’s clean-energy transition.
Federal immigration authorities are keeping a tight lid on key details as “Catahoula Crunch” closes its first week in southeast Louisiana, Verite writes.
The operation—one of Department of Homeland Security’s largest recent urban crackdowns—began with raids at home-improvement stores and aims for 5,000 arrests, according to plans previously reviewed by the Associated Press. While DHS publicly highlighted arrests of immigrants with violent criminal records, AP data shows fewer than one-third of the 38 detainees in the first two days had prior convictions.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups report widespread fear in Hispanic communities, with residents avoiding hospitals, schools, workplaces and even grocery stores amid sightings of federal agents.
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Business impacts are already visible: restaurants and Hispanic-serving corridors like Broad Street appear unusually quiet, with staff shortages forcing menu cuts and temporary closures. School absenteeism has doubled in Jefferson Parish, and protests have spread across New Orleans and surrounding suburbs as local leaders demand transparency around federal tactics.
