Arizona
Arizona baseball rallies past Pepperdine for 11th win in 12 games
Beating a team three times is hard enough, taking all four is even tougher. And after cranking out 21 runs the night before, Arizona’s offense looked like it didn’t have anything left in the tank for the finale against Pepperdine.
Down 3-0 and held scoreless through the first five innings, despite getting the leadoff man on each time, the Wildcats finally broke through to beat the Waves 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Hi Corbett Field. It was their 11th win in the last 12 games after an 0-3 start and improved their home record to 8-0, the best start to a season since winning the first 10 at Hi Corbett in 2018.
“This probably helps us a heck of a lot more of this game than last night’s game, because we’re able to battle back,” UA coach Chip Hale said, referring to Saturday’s 21-2 victory. “We talked to them last night, a lot, about that game’s over, we got to move on.”
Arizona (11-4) couldn’t do much against Pepperdine starter Dylan Stewart beyond getting the first guy on, going 0 for 14 with runners on base. The story changed once the Waves (3-13) went to the bullpen, with the UA loading the bases to start the 6th on two hits and a walk.
Adonys Guzman came off the bench and brought in a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 but that was it for the rally. In the 7th, however, after not getting the leadoff guy on the Wildcats had the next four guys reach, with Garen Caulfield tripling to right-center on the first pitch he saw with the bases loaded for a 4-3 lead.
“My family and I call it the honey hole,” Caulfield said of the right-center gap. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I consider myself a good gap to gap hitter. That’s my approach.”
Maddox Mihalakis then brought Caulfield in with a sac fly to make it 5-3.
Freshman right-hander Smith Bailey allowed three runs in 5.2 innings, striking out six but walking three. He had only issued one walk in his previous three starts.
“I thought there was a time there where he was sort of wasn’t his best and I thought he turned it on towards the end, and he had much better stuff,” Hale said.
Garrett Hicks came on to finish the 6th and then threw a scoreless 7th to earn the win, making him 3-0 in a team-high eight relief appearances. The junior college transfer didn’t become a full-time pitcher until his time at Pima College.
“Just kind of get in there and compete,” Hicks said. “And when you compete, it’s gonna go your way most time. If it doesn’t, it’s baseball.”
Hunter Alberini threw a perfect 8th and then Tony Pluta pitched the 9th for his second save. Pluta allowed a pair of 2-out singles, doubling the number of baserunners he’s allowed this season, but kept his ERA at 0.00.
“I think the pitch stuff is rounding into shape, and guys are kind of finding their roles,” Hale said.
Arizona continues its season-long 9-game homestand Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT against ASU. It’s a nonconference game—the ones that count toward the Big 12 standings are April 4-6 in Phoenix—but no less important.
“It’s a big deal for us,” Hale said. “We want to win. We’re going to play to win. We’re going to pitch our best guys.”
ASU is 12-4 after sweeping Gonzaga over the weekend. The Sun Devils took two of three in Tucson last season with Arizona winning the final game of the series and then a midweek at ASU.
PAGE, AZ (AZFamily) — A person accused of making terroristic threats toward a northern Arizona medical facility was arrested Friday morning.
Just after 10:30 p.m., police received a report of a person calling the facility and threatening to kill staff and Native Americans, according to the Page Police Department.
Authorities said staff placed the facility on lockdown until officers identified the suspect and arrested them outside their home.
The suspect was booked on charges of disorderly conduct, threatening and intimidating, and making terroristic threats. Police have not publicly identified the person.
“The Page Police Department is grateful for and supports the medical staff’s decision to put the medical facility into lockdown until the suspect was arrested and the situation was rendered safe,” the department said in a Facebook post.
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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
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