The most-anticipated college tennis match ever in Tucson was a hot ticket, so much so they had to print out more just to accommodate all the people who wanted to watch Arizona try and make history on Saturday afternoon.
Oklahoma
K-State takes much-needed series from No. 15 Oklahoma State
After hitting a midseason rut in conference play, Kansas State baseball jumped at the opportunity to host 15th-ranked Oklahoma State. With the series finale still to play on Sunday, the Wildcats won the series with 6-5 and 7-2 wins on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“We needed one, right?” head coach Pete Hughes said on the conference series win. “It was time to go. I keep talking about making up for lost ground.
“An opportunity to win a series on a Saturday is like gold,” Hughes continued. “So you attack opportunities. You don’t sit back and wait and see if it’s gonna happen and our guys did that today.”
K-State (24-14) moved to 9-8 in conference play while the Cowboys dropped to 25-14 (10-7). First pitch on Sunday for the series finale is 3 p.m.
Saturday
A night removed from being one of K-State’s heroes, redshirt junior catcher Raphael Pelletier stayed hot by opening scoring with a solo home run in the second, followed by another in the fourth inning.
The native of Mascouche, Quebec, Canada was en feu at the plate, finishing with a line of 3-for-4 with two long balls, a double and two RBI. He said the magic behind his hot streak is keeping it simple.
“Not thinking too much, just see the ball hit the ball, that’s the approach I’m going to,” Pelletier said. “…Those moments (big hits) definitely keep you in a good frame of mind.”
Redshirt sophomore Jackson Wentworth shoved in his first start of the year. The righty struck out the side twice in the first three innings amid a perfect 12-up-12-down start to the game.
“I had some nerves because of how last year went with my (Tommy John) year,” Wentworth said. “But I just stuck with my routine of things and just continued to work hard because I put in the work all year and just kept that foundation. And after the first inning, my nerves just went away.”
Wentworth, who struggled as a starter returning from injury last year, pitched a career-high eight strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings of three-hit baseball as he earned a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Tointon Family Stadium.
“You’ve heard me say it before, everything is predicated on good starting pitching,” Hughes said. “We got about as dominating as a performance as you’ll get in the Big 12 on the weekend from Jackson Wentworth.”
In the sixth, two transfers in junior David Bishop and graduate Jaden Parsons tagged on insurance runs. Bishop singled in Pelletier before Parsons launched his first home run as a Wildcat.
K-State’s offense nabbed the Cowboys for two more runs in the seventh, giving reliever JJ Slack a 7-1 lead to work with. Slack, another graduate transfer, struck out the first three batters he faced. The southpaw finished with a line of 2 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and three hits.
Friday
K-State entered its series with the Cowboys as losers of seven of their last eight conference games. The Wildcats needed a league win, and after 12 innings of gusty baseball, they were able to lay the final blow.
Down two runs in the bottom of the 12th, Pelletier tied the affair with a bases-clearing double. Then, with one out, Bishop sent the Tointon faithful home abuzz with a walk-off single down the third base line.
“A gutty comeback,” Hughes said in a written statement. “To go down in extra innings…Our team showed tremendous character by keeping their heads up and keep playing to get the next hitter. This allowed us to have a great comeback win in extra innings at home. It was an awesome college baseball game.”
Graduate lefty Owen Boerema started on the mound, pitching 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and three earned runs. Out of the pen, Blake Dean, Cole Wisenbaker, and All-American Tyson Neighbors shut down the Cowboys with 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
“It was a good Friday night win,” Hughes said. “I thought our pitching staff fought through some adversity in how they managed to prevent an inning from spiraling out of control, which was one of our goals tonight because Oklahoma State is a big inning team. It allowed us a chance to push the game into extra innings.”
When the Wildcats erased their extra-inning deficit, it was the fourth time coming from behind in the contest.
Center fielder Brendan Jones and designated hitter Cayden Phillips each picked up RBI singles in the third and fourth, with both erasing a one-run deficit.
The Cowboys led 3-2 after the sixth inning, but true freshman Nick English stepped up. The right fielder launched a solo shot beyond the left field fence, tying the game for the third time.
Sophomore Andrew Evans (4-2) was nabbed for two runs in the 12th inning but ultimately got the win after Pelletier and Bishop’s heroics.
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And after more than three hours, the Wildcats finally broke through.
Arizona rallied from down 3-1 to beat Oklahoma 4-3 in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Sweet 16 at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. The 8th-seeded Wildcats (24-4) will face top-seeded Wake Forest, the defending NCAA champions, in the quarterfinals Thursday in Athens, Ga.
Arizona had lost in its previous four Sweet 16 appearances, including three in a row, but this was the first time it got to host.
But with temperatures nearing triple digits, the UA found itself in a position where it needed to win every remaining singles match. No. 9 Oklahoma (20-7) had taken the doubles point and won in straight sets at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, with Arizona’s lone win to that point by sophomore Glib Sekachov (6-2, 6-2) at No. 5 singles.
“We got down 3-1 and I think the guys just said, you know what? This is destiny,” UA coach Clancy Shields said. “It’s supposed to happen this year. We’ve been to the Sweet 16, but we haven’t gotten any further. You saw how the guys buckled down to make it.”
Arizona began to turn a corner when it won first-set tiebreakers in two of three matches, including senior Jay Friend 8-6 at No. 1 singles after being down a break to Oklahoma’s Luis Alvarez. Junior Sasha Rozin started the comeback at No. 3 singles, winning 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4).
Friend lost his second set 7-5, and freshman Alejandro Arcilo did the same 6-4 at No. 6 singles after winning the first 6-4. Arcilo then fell down a break before going on a tear, winning the last three games to take the third set 6-4 and even the match at 3.
After a brief celebration, the entire UA team—and the crowd of 500-plus—migrated around Court 1 for the deciding set between Friends and Alvarez.
“He’s been in that situation so many times, and he looked cool as a cucumber, and I think everybody knew when it came down to his court … we might as well start booking tickets,” Shields said. “He’s not gonna lose that match.”
Friend made quick work of his opponent, winning 6-0 and finishing with an ace.
“I just entered a flow state that I’ve never been in before,” said Friend, the winningest singles player in school history. “The guys kept telling me it’s never going to come down to you because I play too fast, but it did. And I’ve been in this position before, and the last time I lost 7-6 in the third so obviously I was fighting those demons a little bit, but the guys did their job, and that took so much pressure off me, and then 6-0 in the third set to clinch. That’s crazy.”
The remainder of the NCAA Tournament will be held at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, with quarterfinals Thursday, semifinals on May 16 and the championship May 17. At No. 8, Arizona has the second-lowest seed remaining behind No. 10 Baylor.
“Now we’re really dangerous,” Shields said. “This is a team that has accomplished their main goal, and now they’re hunting for something else, and they’re playing free, and we’re gonna play free down there in Athens. I think our team’s gonna have the most fun, and they’re playing with the least amount of pressure. And that’s a dangerous squad. And I think our team also knows how good we are.”
Oklahoma’s early exit at the SEC Tournament opened the door for UCLA to take the lead in the home run race.
Kendall Wells, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Year on Friday for her outstanding 2026 season, went 0-for-3 with a walk in Thursday’s defeat to Georgia, meaning she enters the NCAA Tournament sitting on 36 home runs.
She’s no longer chasing former Arizona star Laura Espinoza, however.
UCLA slugger Megan Grant hit home runs on Friday and Saturday to equal and surpass the record set by Espinoza in 1995.
Grant broke the record in the top of the third inning in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game. She hammered the 0-2 delivery from former OU pitcher Jordy Frahm for home run No. 38.
The solo shot put the Bruins up 2-0, but Frahm and the Cornhuskers roared back to win the game 7-2.
Wells still has the entire NCAA Tournament to chase down and pass Grant. Her next home run will tie Espinoza’s mark of 37 long balls.
It wouldn’t be the first time things have shifted in this massive 2026 home run race, either.
OU was the first team to catch and surpass the 161 home runs hit by the 2021 Sooners.
UCLA’s run at the Big Ten Tournament flipped the race.
The Bruins homered four times against Penn State on Thursday and four times on Friday against Wisconsin before Grant’s record-breaking blast on Saturday.
As a result, UCLA will enter the NCAA Tournament having hit 182 home runs to Oklahoma’s 174 home runs, and the Sooners have played one additional game.
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Both teams a virtually guaranteed to be hosting regionals when the full NCAA Tournament field is revealed on Sunday evening.
Despite the loss to Georgia, Oklahoma is in strong position to earn a top four seed in the tournament. Patty Gasso’s team enters the tournament 48-8 overall, including a 20-4 mark in SEC play during the regular season, which clinched the program’s second-straight regular season crown.
Should the Sooners advance out of the first weekend of the tournament, they are also projected to host a Super Regional at Love’s Field.
UCLA finished the weekend 47-8 overall following their run at the Big Ten Tournament, and the Bruins went 20-4 in league play during the regular season.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air on ESPN2 on Sunday at 6 p.m.
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OKLAHOMA CITY –
Tensions over changes to transportation between the Oklahoma County Detention Center and courthouse reached a peak during a special meeting of the jail’s governing trust on Friday.
Early in April, Sheriff Tommie Johnson III announced he would no longer task any of his own deputies with driving inmates and detainees the half-mile route from the jail to their court hearings, effective May 11. However, from May 11 through June 30, Johnson’s plan included keeping some deputies on the assignment to train and work alongside the jail’s own detention officers.
Along the way, other members of the jail trust have expressed some concerns about the trust’s ability to fully assume the transportation duties.
Oklahoma County’s district attorney, chief public defender, and presiding judge all made rare appearances at the trust meeting on Friday to share some of their own thoughts.
“I want you to consider this decision on whether or not the detention center should take over transport of detainees from the jail to the courthouse, because there is no plan,” District Attorney Vicki Behenna told the trust. “There are no employees at the detention center right now that can fulfill this obligation.”
Behenna also cited concerns that the already understaffed jail would face a worsening staffing situation if it has to pull some of its existing detention officers to provide transportation.
“In my opinion, and the opinion of other lawyers in my office, the indenture requires the Sheriff’s department to do transport,” she added, referencing the indenture which created and assigned control of jail operations to the trust in 2020.
Sheriff Tommie Johnson III cited his own budget concerns as a reason to discontinue the transportation service. His office believes it needs roughly 17 to 19 more deputies inside the courthouse for court security, and it could begin by reassigning
Presiding District Court Judge Sheila Stinson shared her own remarks with the trust, stating that this week alone, three judges had faced death threats. Johnson said his ambition is to have a deputy in every courtroom.
Ultimately, Behenna suggested the trust should not accept the end of the contract and that the sheriff has a duty to continue providing the service, regardless of if the sheriff is paid for the service.
In response, Sheriff Johnson accused the district attorney of being misleading.
“Considering the gross amount of misrepresentation in this section, and relative ease to obtain the correct information, I must assume — I must assume — that this was intentionally misstated to persuade this body to make an ill-informed decision to further the DA’s agenda,” he said.
The district attorney and sheriff eventually got into a back-and-forth.
“Sheriff Johnson, I don’t understand why you have such a visceral reaction to me,” Behenna stated. “If the DA has an agenda, my agenda is public safety.”
Tensions settled some later in the meeting, with trust members still pressed to find an alternative solution.
Trustee Derrick Scobey proposed a solution for the trust and sheriff to work together to find a private partner to operate the transportation service, rather than tasking their own in-house staff to perform the duties.
Sheriff Johnson eventually agreed that his office could help identify a private partner, but that the timeline for gradually taking his deputies out of the task would remain.
Jail administrator Tim Kimrey acknowledged that three of his detention officers would be available starting Monday to work alongside three of Johnson’s deputies to train and learn about the transportation duties while both parties work to find a private partner.
Kimrey said his office had already begun some research on private jail transportation partners, including The GEO Group, TransCor, and LaSalle Corrections.
The trust postponed officially accepting the end of the sheriff’s contract until its next meeting.
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