Arizona
Pac-12 Baseball Tournament: Arizona trying to stay grounded after emotional regular season finish
Saturday night was the highest of highs for Arizona, winning the final Pac-12 regular season title in dramatic fashion with a walkoff at Hi Corbett Field. But Monday brought a return to reality, as the Wildcats put forth a less than enthusiastic practice in preparation for the conference tournament.
“I’ll give you a pass today, but tomorrow let’s have a good one,” Chip Hale said he told the team afterward. “Be ready for Wednesday. Washington’s gonna bring everything they have at us.”
Arizona (33-20) opens the Pac-12 Tournament at 7 p.m. PT Wednesday against the ninth-seeded Huskies (19-29-1) in the first of two pool play games at Scottsdale Stadium. The Wildcats also face No. 6 Cal (34-18) on Thursday night, and as the No. 1 seed only need to win once to earn a spot in Friday’s semifinals.
“Our attitude going in is we want to win every game,” Hale said. “We want to win every inning, you want to win every out, so we’re going to do the best we can to win it. There will be some times during Wednesday’s game where they need to get their feet back on the ground. It may not start great, I know that.”
With that in mind, though, the UA won’t throw any of its three weekend starters in the opener, going with left-hander Bradon Zastrow in what will be a bullpen game akin to the May 7 win at ASU. That would line up lefty Jackson Kent to face Cal, then have righty Clark Candiotti for the semis and righty Cam Walty for Saturday’s Pac-12 title game.
“We didn’t want to push Kent up a day again,” Hale said. “This way he gets seven days, and then for the regional (all three starters) will get even one more day.”
Kent has allowed five runs in three consecutive starts after having a 2.41 ERA through his first 11 outings. Hale said the redshirt sophomore’s arm is fine, it was just a matter of leaving his changeup up in the zone against a potent Oregon State offense, which knocked him out after three innings last Thursday.
Regardless of what happens in Scottsdale this week, Arizona will be in next week’s NCAA Tournament. That wasn’t the case a year ago when the Wildcats had to get to the Pac-12 final to sneak into the NCAA field, beating ASU and Oregon State to win its pool and then run-ruling top seed Stanford before falling to Oregon in the title game.
The different scenarios shouldn’t create different approaches to the tourney, infielder Garen Caulfield said.
“I think it’s just continuing to play the game one pitch at a time and treating every game like we have nothing to lose and playing with house money,” said Caulfield, one of eight Wildcats to earn all-conference honors.
Some added motivation could come from starting with a Washington team that took two of three from Arizona late last month in Seattle. The Wildcats won the first game 3-2, dropped the middle 4-3 and led 8-3 in the 8th before blowing the lead and falling in 13 innings.
“I think the guys felt like we should have won two out of three,” Hale said. “I think that adds a little juice to it.”
Hale defers Coach of the Year praise
Asked about winning Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Hale was quick to credit everyone around him for what he called a “staff award.” The players say otherwise.
“I think he’s played a role in every step of success we’ve had,” Caulfield said. “He’s kept our heads straight. We weren’t picked to finish very high, as you guys know, and we used that as a chip on our shoulder and Chip just continued to put together good plans for every practice and all the games and everything. So it’s very exciting to see him win.”
Added Candiotti: “Just keeping everyone together and making sure that everyone’s on the same page and no one’s getting left behind, so to speak. Making sure everyone’s right at the top, right at that level and just always moving forward. Never getting stuck on events in the past.”
The first person in conference history to win both Player and Coach of the Year awards in baseball, Hale said his ability to be patient with a young team was his biggest goal for the season.
“The one thing about coming from the pro side to the college side is … if you’re out of the game, you don’t have a good start to it, you have 144 in the minor leagues and have 162 in the big leagues, so be it,” he said. “But every game is a World Series in college. It’s so super important to win every game. And so to be patient through a 9-inning game, understand that there’s going toand flows, which I do. So just be patient. And if they need a little jab, or a little kick in the butt, know when to do that. I think that’s been probably my biggest goal this year.”
Injury update
Arizona’s outfield situation became so injury depleted last weekend against Oregon State that reliever Casey Hintz, recruited as a two-way player, was forced into starting the last two games in center. But heading into the Pac-12 tourney, reinforcements may be on the way.
Hale said freshman Easton Breyfogle, who has out since pulling a hamstring at Washington on April 27, is “close” to returning and could be in the lineup Wednesday night. Senior Emilio Corona and redshirt freshman TJ Adams are both expected to be on the tourney roster, which at 30 is three more than for Pac-12 games, but neither are likely to be able to hit.
Corona, who was hit on the right hand with a pitch on Thursday, can’t grip a bat yet but could pinch run—he was in consideration for that Saturday night in the 9th inning—and possibly play defense. Adams, who injured his right shoulder crashing into the wall at Utah on May 10, has yet to resume baseball activities but could run the bases if needed.
Ryley Harrison, who has established herself as an ace in the circle at South Alabama, has announced she is transferring to Arizona.
The four-time Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week winner made the announcement in a social media post on Friday.
“After much prayer, I’m so happy and overwhelmingly grateful to share that I will continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Arizona,” she said in the post.
Harrison committed to South Alabama in 2024 and led them to a Sun Belt championship and NCAA regional appearance this year.
The Fairhope, Ala., native was 18-14 with a 2.41 ERA this season. She had 204 strikeouts and 76 walks in 206 innings.
She was 31-25 with a 2.90 ERA in 349 2/3 innings in her three years at South Alabama. She had 311 strikeouts and 133 walks.
Tyron “Ty” Keyonnie has been missing since a kayaking trip at Canyon Lake in the Tonto National Forest last week. His truck and camping gear were found at Acacia Recreation Site, and his kayak, phone, keys and bag later turned up elsewhere. Now his family and search crews are looking for answers as authorities ask anyone with information to contact MCSO.
The next time the Arizona Cardinals take the practice field, it will be late July, inside the air conditioning of State Farm Stadium, as training camp gets underway. That’s when the pads will go on and when the arrival of a new season will feel tangible, even as it comes with muted expectations.
But over the past two months, head coach Mike LaFleur and the Cardinals began laying the groundwork for what their 2026 season will look like in 11 spring practice sessions — nine as part of voluntary OTAs, two in mandatory minicamp. Here are the key lessons that we learned during those practices.
Cardinals are healthier than expected
The Cardinals began their spring slate full of question marks surrounding the health of important starters. They ended with almost none.
Defensive tackle Walter Nolen is expected to be ready for the start of training camp, where he’ll aim to build off a promising but injury-riddled rookie season that ended with a torn meniscus. The same goes for tight end Tip Reiman, a key weapon in the run game who suffered a season-ending foot injury last year.
Cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Starling Thomas V are already back in practice after missing all of last year with torn ACLs. And the most surprising news centered on nickel Garrett Williams, who has a good chance to be ready for Week 1 despite tearing his Achilles in December.
Really, the only negative on the injury front came with fourth-round rookie defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor, who suffered a torn meniscus during OTAs and could miss the entire season. That’s a big blow, given Proctor’s pass-rushing upside and the Cardinals’ lack of depth at the position, but it shouldn’t overshadow the good news elsewhere.
Rookies are being introduced gradually
In nearly every offensive position group at OTAs and minicamp, there was a trend: highly drafted rookies working behind unheralded veterans.
At running back, Jeremiyah Love worked behind Tyler Allgeier during drills. On the offensive line, Chase Bisontis worked with the backups, while Isaiah Adams operated as the starting right guard. And at quarterback, Kedon Slovis took reps ahead of Carson Beck, who would have been working as the fourth quarterback on the depth chart if not for Jacoby Brissett’s holdout.
It’s early, of course, and the order of practice reps in May and June is not always an accurate predictor of the hierarchy come Week 1. But it was evident throughout camp that LaFleur wants to bring his rookies along gradually — for now.
“I’ve always said, the rookie will be ready when the rookie’s ready,” LaFleur said. “With that being said, this league doesn’t wait around. So there’s a level of urgency that everyone’s gotta have.”
It will be worth watching how quickly that group is able to rise up the depth chart during training camp.
LaFleur’s offense will look new to Cardinals fans
Under former offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, the Cardinals offense was often stagnant. They had the league’s fourth-lowest motion rate and preferred to beat defenses with power, relying on heavy personnel groupings. At its best, it was a bruising, punishing style of offense. At its worst, it was staid and predictable.
Under LaFleur, the overarching offensive philosophy could look quite different. As players were asked to describe his offense over the course of the past month, one clear trend emerged.
“It’s a lot of eye candy, a lot of motions,” linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. said.
“Just the different things that we do with motions and shifts,” wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. said.
“They do a lot, moving around,” safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson said.
In other words: Expect the Cardinals offense to use motion early and often. That’s no surprise, given that LaFleur’s Rams ranked fourth in usage of pre-snap motion last season, but it will be new in Arizona.
Cody Simon takes lead at linebacker
When the Cardinals signed veteran linebacker Jack Gibbens to a two-year, $7.5 million deal this spring, it seemed as if he could step into a starting role alongside Wilson. But in spring ball, it was second-year linebacker Cody Simon who appeared to have the inside track to that job.
Simon, a 2025 fourth-round pick, stepped in for the injured Wilson last November and struggled at times, taking too long to react to plays in the middle of the field. But by the end of the season, he had gained an increased level of familiarity in coordinator Nick Rallis’ defense — something LaFleur took notice of when studying the Cardinals’ 2025 tape.
“There’s tangible evidence of him, within a game, correcting himself,” LaFleur said. “… And seeing the improvement from one play to maybe 10 plays later. And it’s like, ‘Ooh, he got it right there.’
“He understood that he could have been a little bit better and you saw that. … He gets football.”
Secondary filled with competition for starting spots
At the end of spring camp, the Cardinals’ depth chart has uncertainty at all three positions in the secondary.
With Jalen Thompson gone, Taylor-Demerson appeared to have the inside track to a starting job alongside Budda Baker at safety. Instead, Taylor-Demerson and free agent signing Andrew Wingard have been rotating atop the depth chart, with that competition seemingly set to extend into the summer.
At nickel, the uncertainty depends on Williams’ health. Murphy-Bunting was moved from outside corner to the slot this offseason and figures to be the starter if Williams misses time. But if Williams returns by Week 1, he will likely resume his starting position — so long as he is at his best.
And on the outside, second-year cornerback Will Johnson appears entrenched in one spot, but the other is wide open. Denzel Burke and Max Melton rotated through that spot during OTAs, but Thomas V returned from his torn ACL during minicamp. He, too, could push for starting snaps. With three players competing for one job, it could be among the Cardinals’ fiercest battles during training camp.
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