Arizona
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
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Arizona is launching a statewide task force aimed at cracking down on cargo theft.
CargoNet estimates $725 million was lost in cargo thefts nationwide in 2025. Arizona is among the states where cargo theft happens most often.
Cargo thefts rise in Arizona
State Sen. Kevin Payne was the sponsor of Senate Bill 1452, which created the Cargo Theft Task Force and was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday.
“There’s a lot of cargo theft going on,” Payne said.
The bill creates a statewide cargo theft task force made up of six investigators, legal staff, and any law enforcement designated by the Attorney General’s office. The task force will investigate cargo theft and track new criminal trends.
“I don’t think that people thought it was as serious as it actually is,” Payne said.
Scott Cornell, chief risk officer for SPG Cargo and Logistics and chair of the Transported Asset Protection Association, said he has investigated cargo theft for three decades and that cases have become harder to solve lately
“These large, sophisticated international crime rings have taken over cargo theft in the United States, and they pull the strings from a dozen or two dozen different countries,” Cornell said.
Cornell said addressing cargo theft directly through a specialized task force at the state level could have more impact.
“I think when you address it directly, like Arizona is with a cargo theft task force, you’re bound to have much more impact than a state that doesn’t have that specialization,” he said.
In Arizona, expensive shoes, watches and electronics are among the items stolen from semitrucks and trains in the last couple of years.
“We pay for it,” Cornell said. “The cost is absolutely going to be passed on to the consumer. There’s no question about it.”
Payne said the goal of the task force is to reduce cargo theft in Arizona.
“I sure would like to eliminate a lot of it,” Payne said. “You know, cut it down a lot. Make it to where it’s not profitable for them to do this so they’ll stop.”
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is in charge of establishing the task force. In a statement, the AG’s office says Attorney General Kris Mayes looks forward to continuing the ongoing work to combat retail theft and cargo theft through this task force, and it will coordinate efforts with law enforcement statewide.
The task force’s first report is due to the governor, Senate president and House speaker by July 1, 2027.
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Arizona
Arizona man convicted for role in bringing cocaine to Cincinnati, other US locations for over 5 years
CINCINNATI — An Arizona man has been found guilty of supplying dozens of kilograms of cocaine to multiple U.S. locations, including Cincinnati, bi-weekly for more than five years.
Tucson resident Cesar Cervantes, 52, was convicted of participating in drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies in a jury trial after the government seized more than 160 kilograms of cocaine, three kilograms of fentanyl and $1.4 million in cash from him.
According to court documents, Cervantes would use a network to deliver drugs that originated in Mexico to multiple locations across the country, including designated couriers in Cincinnati, between at least July 2018 and August 2023. Officials said he would supply between 25 and 50 kilograms biweekly to his coconspirators.
Cervantes would then use money launderers to funnel money back to Mexico. In one instance, court documents said he had coconspirators deliver around $300,000 to two separate money launderers — one based in China and another in Colombia.
The jury found Cervantes guilty on all counts for his role in the conspiracies following a trial before U.S. District Judge Matthew W. McFarland in the Southern District of Ohio. He faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison.
Investigators are analyzing two ransom notes sent after Nancy Guthrie vanished, as a retired FBI agent questions whether the latest message is real. A new development in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance centers on two ransom notes sent to her family after she vanished. Investigators believe the messages may have come from the same person or group, possibly from the same computer IP address. The first note demanded billions in bitcoin, while the second claimed Guthrie had died and offered an apology. Retired FBI agent John Iannarelli says he is skeptical of the second note and questions why the sender has not provided credible information about her location. The case remains active as detectives continue following any reliable leads.
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