Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
Where to get the best views of Arizona’s fall colors
PHOENIX — The rainfall is certainly here in the Valley and the fall colors seen most prominently in the trees are not too far behind.
To help Arizonans witness the coming array of fall foliage, Arizona State Parks & Trails compiled a list of the top five parks to visit throughout the state.
Best parks in Arizona to view fall colors
Red Rock State Park (Sedona)
The Sedona-based park is home to a 5-mile trail that showcases views of the northern Arizona’s red rock and other green scenery of the surrounding Oak Creek.
It is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and has tickets available for $5 (ages 7 to 13) and $10 (ages 14 and older). Children ages 6 and under get in free.
Besides an earlier start time in June, there are daily guided hikes at 10 a.m.
Slide Rock State Park (Sedona)
A trio of trails under a mile in length (two are 0.25 and one 0.3 miles) are available for the public to enjoy in Oak Creek Canyon.
Pets are welcome at the park following a heat-related ban from May 1 to Sept. 30.
Tickets are sold on a per vehicle basis, with one to four people getting in for $20 from October to April.
The park sits on 43 acres of a historic apple farm that was first planted in 1912 and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be closed Oct. 21-22, however.
Dead Horse Ranch State Park (Cottonwood)
Located roughly smack in the middle of Sedona and Prescott, this park features more than 20 miles of trails for biking, hiking and horseback riding.
The Lime Kiln Trail, which connects Dead Horse Ranch and Red Rock state parks, is among the most popular there. It won Critic’s Choice Award for Best Bike Ride in 2012.
In the fall, the park is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and individual tickets (biking or hiking) are available for $5.
Tonto Natural Bridge State Park (Pine)
The park located southeast of Sedona isn’t pet-friendly due to the severity of all the trails, but is home to what is believed to be the “largest natural travertine bridge in the world,” according to Arizona State Parks & Trails. The bridge is 183 feet tall and 400 feet long, while measuring 150 feet at its widest point.
Guests can also check out the historic Tonto Lodge for more information about the bridge and previous native peoples on the nearby land.
Ticket prices are the same across the board as at Red Rock State Park and the park is open daily throughout the year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rockin’ River Ranch State Park (Camp Verde)
Along the Verde River south of Sedona is a park that exhibits more desert and green fauna and is more temperature neutral than recreational areas north and south of its location.
It offers six trails ranging from 0.2 to 1.7 miles in length and sits upon 209 acres of ranging land that showcases birds and other wildlife such as javelina, deer and beavers.
The park is closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but in open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays through Mondays.
Tickets are sold per vehicle, with one person in a vehicle going for $10 and two to four in a vehicle for $20. Bikers get in for $5.
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
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
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