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NCAA Baseball Tournament: Arizona gets No. 13 seed, to open vs. Grand Canyon

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NCAA Baseball Tournament: Arizona gets No. 13 seed, to open vs. Grand Canyon


It won’t just be familiar confines for Arizona as it gets to host an NCAA Baseball Tournament regional. There will also be familiar foes.

The Wildcats (36-21) earned the No. 13 overall seed and will begin play Friday against Grand Canyon (34-23), a team they’ve faced three times this season and lost to twice, including once (badly) at Hi Corbett Field. The other teams coming to Tucson are Dallas Baptist (44-13), whom the UA lost to at the Frisco Classic in March, and West Virginia (33-22), which took two of three in a series at Hi Corbett to open the 2023 season.

“It was a no brainer,” UA coach Chip Hale said of Grand Canyon, which was also sent to Tucson in 2021. “We knew that, and it makes sense. It’s good, their fans and get down here no problem.”

The 4-team regional has a double-elimination format, with Friday’s winners and losers meeting on Saturday. The regional final is set for Sunday, with a potential second game (if needed) on Monday.

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The Tucson Region is paired up with the Chapel Hill Region, hosted by No. 4 seed North Carolina (42-13). If both Arizona and UNC advance to Super Regionals it would be played in Chapel Hill, but if the Wildcats win their regional and anyone other than the Tar Heels take the other the Supers would be played in Tucson.

Among those in the Chapel Hill Region is defending College World Series champion LSU, led by former UA Jay Johnson. Ex-Wildcat outfielder Mac Bingham is on the Tigers after spending four seasons with Arizona.

Arizona is 10-1 in NCAA Tournament games played at Hi Corbett, advancing to the World Series from there in 2012 and 2021. This will be the fourth consecutive season the Wildcats have played in the NCAA tourney, the longest streak since making it 14 years in a row from 1950-63.

“I haven’t played in a regional where there hasn’t been a weather delay,” said infielder Garen Caulfield, who was part of the UA teams that dealt with stormy conditions in Coral Gables, Fla., in 2022 and Fayetteville, Ark., last season. “I’m hoping that the Tucson Regional provides some good weather for us.”

Despite an RPI of 31, Arizona not only got to host but was considered by the selection committee to be better than three other seeds. No. 14 Santa Barbara had an RPI of 13, while No. 15 Oregon State (18) and No. 16 East Carolina (22) also were ranked ahead of the Wildcats.

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“I’m not as surprised as most people were, because of what we’ve done and our body of work,” Hale said, noting Arizona’s Pac-12 regular-season and conference tournament titles.

Dallas Baptist, which has an RPI of 17, won the Conference USA tourney title on Sunday after finishing second in the regular season. West Virginia was fourth in the Big 12 but went 0-2 in its conference tourney, while Grand Canyon also went 0-2 in the WAC tourney but because champ Tarleton State is ineligible due its transition from Division II the Antelopes were awarded the automatic bid by virtue of winning the regular season crown by five games.

GCU took two of three from Arizona this season, with the Wildcats winning 6-4 at home on March 19 before losing 5-4 in Phoenix on April 16 and then getting run-ruled 24-8 at home on April 30. Those were all midweek contests, however, when teams tend not to pitch their weekend starters.

“This will be different,” Hale said. “We’ll face they’re supposed Friday night starter and we’ll have our our best pitcher going against them. So it will be a little bit different, but they put good at-bats together, they put the ball in play with two strikes. As we know, with our weather and our fiel there’s a lot of hits to be had in this field. So when you put the ball in play have a chance.

“They’re a good team, and we’ve always said that, that’s what we play them three times a year. They’re very tough team. We know them well, they know us well. So it’s going to be a good battle.”

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Arizona is one of three Pac-12 schools to make it in the conference’s final season. Besides the Wildcats and OSU, Oregon got in as the No. 3 seed in the Santa Barbara Region, while Cal was among the first four teams out of the field.

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Autopsies show Arizona teens were both shot in the head while camping

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Autopsies show Arizona teens were both shot in the head while camping


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  • Two teenagers were fatally shot while camping northeast of Phoenix in May 2025.
  • Both Evan Clark, 17, and Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, were shot in the head, autopsy reports said.
  • A 31-year-old man was arrested and indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths.

A 17-year-old boy who was fatally shot while camping with a female classmate northeast of Phoenix died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to the first page of his autopsy report.

Evan Clark, 17, and Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, were camping just off State Route 87 near Mount Ord when the two were shot and killed. Investigators discovered their bodies, which had been moved into nearby brush to conceal them, on May 26, 2025.

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The first page of Clark’s autopsy report, which The Arizona Republic obtained March 3, found that his death was a homicide with multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The first page of Kjolsrud’s autopsy report also ruled her death a homicide with her cause of death being gunshot wounds to the head and upper body.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office detectives ultimately arrested Thomas Brown, 31, of Chandler on Oct. 2, 2025, in connection with their deaths. Brown was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and remained in jail on a $2 million cash-only bond.

Detectives found Brown’s DNA on gloves inside Clark’s SUV that had Kjolsrud’s blood on them as well, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Partial autopsy reports made available following legal fight

While The Republic has obtained the first pages of both Clark’s and Kjolsrud’s autopsy reports, the remaining pages appeared to remain sealed as of March 3 since Simone Kjolsrud, Pandora’s mother, petitioned to have the autopsy reports sealed or redacted. Simone Kjolsrud argued that various details about her daughter and aspects of her personal life, potentially included in such documents, should remain private and outweigh the public’s right to know.

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A Sept. 25, 2025, motion that sought to block the report’s release argued the report could contain information law enforcement hasn’t yet shared and could impair the ongoing criminal investigation.

“Simone Kjolsrud fears that, if released, her daughter’s Medical Examiner’s Report may end up on the internet or be broadcast on the news, which would undoubtedly cause additional trauma and even jeopardize her constitutional right to justice in this case,” the motion stated.

Kjolsrud asked that Clark’s autopsy be sealed as well, arguing that it would likely contain details similar to her daughter’s.

Matthew Kelley, an attorney representing The Republic and other Arizona media outlets, previously objected to the autopsies being sealed and asked that the temporary protective order be vacated.

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“To be sure, these killings are particularly traumatic for a surviving family member,” Kelley wrote in his objection. “But the pain felt by a family member cannot override the public’s right to inspect public records reflecting the performance of law enforcement and other public agencies entrusted with investigating such crimes. A veil of secrecy only raises unnecessary speculation about such public performance.”

It was not immediately clear whether Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Fish, who initially ordered the autopsies remain sealed as he reviewed their contents, would unseal additional pages in their entirety or with redactions.

Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @PerryVandell.





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No. 2 Arizona tops Iowa State to win outright Big 12 title

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No. 2 Arizona tops Iowa State to win outright Big 12 title


TUCSON, Ariz. — Jaden Bradley scored 17 points, Motiejus Krivas had 13 and No. 2 Arizona clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season title with a 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night.

The Wildcats (28-2, 15-2) secured at least a share of the conference crown by using big runs in each half to beat No. 14 Kansas 84-61 on Saturday.

Arizona earned it outright by smothering Iowa State defensively to give Tommy Lloyd his 140th victory, most in NCAA history in a coach’s first five seasons.

“The Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country,” Lloyd said while addressing the home crowd after the game, “and to win it by a couple of games, it’s pretty impressive. So take your hats off to these guys right here.”

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Coming off their first home loss of the season, the Cyclones (24-6, 11-6) labored against Arizona’s physical defense, shooting 29% from the field, including 7-of-30 from 3-point range.

During his postgame news conference, Lloyd called out the narrative surrounding his team when discussing the Wildcats’ toughness and physicality.

“I think the narrative that we were soft is lazy. I mean, look at our stats, look at our analytics — we’ve always been a great rebounding team, we’ve always pounded the paint,” Lloyd said. “If you want to just be lazy and not pay attention and say we’re soft because we’re on the West Coast, be lazy, and I’d love to play against you.”

Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 17 points, but leading scorer Milan Momcilovic was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting. The nation’s best 3-point shooter at 51%, Momcilovic went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.

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Neither team could make much of anything, due to good defense and poor shooting.

Iowa State shot 9-of-33 from the field and 4-of-20 from 3 in the first half.

Arizona labored most of the half as the Cyclones focused on defending the paint before the Wildcats closed on a 15-3 run to lead 37-25 at halftime.

It only got worse for Iowa State to start the second half. The Cyclones missed their first eight shots as Arizona stretched the lead to 16.

Iowa State briefly found an offensive rhythm, using a 10-1 run to pull to within 44-37, but didn’t hit a field goal for more than five minutes as Arizona stretched the lead back to 15.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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Arizona NAACP responds to ‘Simon Says’ case, calls for police accountability

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Arizona NAACP responds to ‘Simon Says’ case, calls for police accountability


PHOENIX — The Arizona NAACP is responding to the violent arrest of Israel Devoe, a Phoenix man who was acquitted of all charges stemming from a 2024 traffic stop in which officers punched, kneed, and elbowed him.

Sarah Tyree, president of the Arizona NAACP State Conference, said the case is part of a broader and familiar pattern.

“What happened here reflects a pattern our communities know all too well. Time and again, we see policing tactics that are dangerous and deeply harmful to civilians, yet are later justified as ‘within policy’ through carefully crafted reports and the broad protections afforded under Graham v. Connor,” Tyree wrote in an emailed statement following an ABC15 investigation.

RELATEDPhoenix man to file lawsuit after dangerous game of ‘Simon Says’ with police

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Phoenix police officials found all four officers involved in Devoe’s arrest to have acted within policy, records show.

After a two-day trial, jurors unanimously found Devoe not guilty on all four of the felony charges against him — including aggravated assault on officers and resisting arrest.

In her statement, Tyree said true accountability is not possible without changing state law.

“Accountability remains out of reach in Arizona because the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights continues to insulate misconduct from meaningful oversight, too often shifting blame onto the very communities most impacted by these encounters,” she wrote. “We also encourage Arizona voters to engage their state legislators and advocate for the repeal or amendment of the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights to ensure systems of public safety are truly accountable to the public they serve.”

Devoe’s case again highlights problems with policing in Phoenix, which has been under scrutiny following a Department of Justice investigation that found the city had a pattern and practice of using excessive force, discrimination, and weak oversight.

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The push for federal oversight ended in 2025 after the Trump administration ended such efforts across the country.

Devoe’s civil attorney, Jesse Showalter, also represents Tyron McAlpin, a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was violently arrested by Phoenix officers in July 2024. Showalter has said both cases reflect what he described as an accepted norm of extreme violence within the Phoenix Police Department.

A Phoenix police spokesperson said the department declines to comment because Devoe is set to file a lawsuit against the city.

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This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and converted to this platform based on the broadcast story written and reported by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing (Dave@abc15.com). Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. 





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