San Diego, CA
What to watch for when Arizona baseball hosts San Diego for 3-game weekend series
The college baseball season is only a week old and already Arizona has experienced a rollercoaster of results.
The Wildcats went to Arlington, Texas with their first preseason ranking in four years and promptly lose all three games, getting outscored 31-7 at the Shiners Children’s College Showdown at Globe Life Field. Then, two days later, they came home to run-rule New Mexico in an afternoon home opener at Hi Corbett Field for their first win of the season.
Playing that game at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday was a favor to New Mexico, which had spent the previous weekend playing a tournament in Phoenix and wanted to get back home. That means Friday will serve as the unofficial home opener as the UA opens a 3-game series with San Diego.
Arizona went 19-9 at Hi Corbett last season, a record that included two losses as NCAA Tournament regional hosts. The Wildcats are 15-4 all-time against the Toreros but dropped two of three to them in San Diego early last season.
Here’s what to watch for this weekend at Hi Corbett:
Rotation redux
Arizona is going with the same three starting pitchers as it did on opening weekend, sending out redshirt sophomore right-hander Collin McKinney on Friday night, sophomore righty Owen Kramkowski on Saturday afternoon and true freshman righty Smith Bailey for Sunday’s finale.
McKinney and Bailey looked great in their outings. McKinney, a transfer from Baylor, had the longest outing of the group by going 4.1 innings against Ole Miss and allowing a run on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts, while Bailey tossed four shutout innings against Louisville while striking out five and yielding three singles.
Kramkowski, on the other hand, had a first career start to forget. He failed to get out of the first inning against Clemson, allowing seven runs and eight hits while recording both of his outs via strikeout.
Bad luck contributed to the rough outing, as a potential inning-ending double play ball struck an umpire on its way through the infield, resulting in a dead ball single that put two on with one out. Kramkowski would then allow four straight hits before getting another out.
“You have to pitch through that,” UA coach Chip Hale said on Tuesday. “Kramkowski had a tough one, I’d like to see him back out there.”
Despite that performance, Kramkowski is still considered a pro prospect. D1Baseball ranks him as the No. 91 draft prospect in college for the 2026 MLB Draft.
Junior righty Casey Hintz was being considered for a starting spot, and threw the final 3.2 innings against Ole Miss, but Hale said his value may still be best suited for the bullpen. Another potential starter, Rutgers transfer Christian Coppola, could make his UA debut this weekend piggybacking off one of the other starters.
Hitting is contagious
Against New Mexico, Arizona had 11 hits including three in a row to open the bottom of the 4th when it scored three times. There were two other occasions where the Wildcats had back-to-back hits.
In the three losses in Texas, that happened once.
Hitting was expected to be Arizona’s strength entering the season, based on the number of returning players and veterans on the roster, and Hale still feels that will be the case. He wasn’t upset with the overall approach his batters had at the plate in Texas, just the results.
“You always know, when you go play in those tournaments, like we will (next week) in Houston, there’s three really good teams that are that are coached really well, and they’re going to be at the same level,” Hale said. “Trust the process. Just do what you do, whether it’s pitching, hitting, defense, base running. Don’t try to do too much. Just be who you are.”
Against New Mexico Hale moved senior Garen Caulfield from the No. 2 spot to cleanup, and he responded with two hits and four RBI. That lengthens the overall lineup and also changes the approach for junior Mason White, who has batted third each game.
White had two hits on the opening weekend, both solo home runs, while against New Mexico he had two singles and a double. It was the ninth game of his career with 3-plus hits but only the fourth that didn’t include a homer.
“I thought his best at-bat … was the ground ball base hit that the shortstop backhanded and couldn’t come up with, those are the kind of at-bats he has to have, especially late in the count,” Hale said. “If he can do that, put the ball in play hard all the time, he’s going to have huge numbers.”
About San Diego
The Toreros went 41-15 last season, winning both the regular season and conference tournament titles for the West Coast Conference. They played in the Santa Barbara Regional, going 1-2, and then had five players taken in the 2024 MLB Draft including former UA pitcher Josh Randall, who struck out 10 Wildcats in five innings last February.
This season has been an even rougher start for San Diego than for Arizona, as USD went 0-4 at home albeit to Big 12 power TCU. Two of the games were 1-run losses including a 10-inning affair on Opening Day.
There are still a handful of returners from the 2024 team that gave Arizona problems a year ago. Outfielder/left-handed pitcher Austin Smith had three homers and seven RBI and also struck out four of five batters he faced, while infielder Jack Gurevitch had five hits.
San Diego pitchers struck out a combined 44 Wildcats in the series, 19 apiece and the first and third games, but like Arizona it has a revamped staff.
San Diego, CA
Man fatally struck by hit-and-run vehicle in San Diego
A man in the Mission Bay Park community of San Diego was fatally struck Sunday morning by a hit-and run vehicle, authorities said.
The victim was also struck by a second vehicle and that motorist stayed at the scene to cooperate with officers, the San Diego Police Department reported.
The initial crash occurred at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday in the area of West Mission Bay and Sea World drives.
The pedestrian was in the southbound lanes of the 2000 block of West Mission Bay Drive when he was struck by a silver vehicle also in the southbound lanes. That vehicle fled the scene, continuing southbound, police said.
A 28-year-old man driving his vehicle southbound ran over the downed pedestrian.
“That driver remained at the scene and is not DUI,” according to a police statement. “The pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Anyone with information regarding the initial crash was urged to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
San Diego, CA
Here are the 9 San Diego County communities that set or tied heat records
San Diego County is known for having wet, cold weather in February. But it had numerous hot spells this year. And when the month ended on Saturday a high pressure system produced heat that broke or tied temperature records in nine communities from the desert to the sea, the National Weather Service said.
The most notable temperature occurred in Borrego Springs, which reached 99, five degrees higher than the previous record for Feb. 28, set in 1986. The 99 reading is also the highest temperature ever recorded in Borrego in February.
Escondido reached 95, tying a record set in 1901.
El Cajon reached 92, three degrees higher than the record set in 2009.
Ramona topped out at 88, five degrees higher than the record set in 2009.
Alpine hit 88, four degrees higher the record set in 1986.
Campo reached 87, four degrees higher than the record set in 1999.
Vista hit 86, four degrees higher than the record set in 2020.
Chula Vista reached 84, one degree higher than the record set in 2020.
Lake Cuyamaca rose to 76, four degrees higher than the record set in 1986.
Forecasters say the weather is not likely to broadly produce new highs on Sunday. Cooler air is moving to the coast, and on Monday, San Diego’s high will only reach 67, a degree above normal.
San Diego, CA
Francis Parker captures Open Division girls basketball title
OCEANSIDE — The Frontwave Arena scoreboard showed 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Up 16, Francis Parker’s win over Westview High School for the CIF San Diego Section Open Division girls basketball championship was secure.
“No, no, no!” Parker head coach Courtney Clements screamed to freshman guard Jordan Brown, telling her there was no need to score.
So Brown walked the ball up the floor, from the backcourt, across midcourt, a 1,000-watt smile etched across her face.
With no Wolverines defending her, Brown dribbled from side to side across the logo. Then, a fraction of a moment before the final buzzer sounded, Brown flung the basketball high toward the rafters, then was engulfed by teammates.
The job was complete. Parker’s first Open Division title in program history was secure, the final reading 66-50 on Saturday night.
Of those final seconds, said Brown, who scored 23 points. “It was a surreal moment, knowing we worked for this all year long. It’s amazing.”
One reason it was amazing was because the top-seeded Lancers (21-7) were a decided favorite, but were stressed by the sixth-seeded Wolverines (20-9). Led by UC Santa Barbara-bound senior guard Sarah Heyn (18 points in the first half), Westview led 35-28 early in the third quarter.
“I just knew I had to do whatever it took to win,” said Brown. “Whether that was defense or offense. I just wanted to win, period.”
Sparked by its defense, Parker closed the quarter on a 14-0 run. Westview’s final 11 possessions of the quarter ended with five missed shots and six turnovers.
Still, the game wasn’t over. Heyn cut the deficit to 48-44 with just over six minutes to play on a bucket. But with 5:47 to play, Heyn was whistled for her fifth foul on a reach-in.
“Knowing their best player fouled out, we sealed the win,” said Brown.
As for Heyn, who finished with 23 points, she sat on the bench and pulled her jersey over her eyes, hiding tears.
Clements’ thoughts when Heyn fouled out? “I hope we can put this game away now.”
That the Lancers did, outscoring Westview 18-6 down the stretch.
The Lancers’ players and coach were effusive in their praise for Heyn, a four-year starter.
“She’s a great player,” said Brown.
“She played phenomenally,” said Clements. “She played the way you would think a senior would play in a championship game. She played desperately. She played every possession like it was the last 20 seconds of the game. She was extremely impressive. (Heyn buried five 3s, missing only once from deep.) She should be proud of herself.”
Clements was proud of her team for another reason. After blowing out two-time reigning Open Division champion Mission Hills by 26 in the semis, some thought Parker might cruise in the title game.
“I figured it was going to be a fight, and it was,” said Clements. “It was good that our girls had to come together, had to stick together. That’s what this is all about, developing character via the sport of basketball. When the kids face adversity, they have to make a decision. Who do they want to be? They showed the best version of themselves. That’s what I want to remember from a game like this.”
Francis Parker’s primary color is brown, which is fitting for the girls basketball team. They are led not only by the freshman Jordan Brown, but also junior Brieana Brown, a strong, aggressive and athletic 5-foot-11 wing.
Brieana Brown scored 25 points and yanked down a team-best eight rebounds.
About the team in brown being led by the Browns (who are not related), Jordan Brown said: “It’s super cool. I love Bri and our story. So many people think we’re related, that we’re siblings. In reality, we’re not, but we play like it.”
Francis Parker and Westview both will advance to the Southern California Regionals.
Earlier in the season, Clements — who was dressed in all black for the championship game — confessed she wasn’t crazy about Parker’s primary color. Her mood shifted Saturday night.
“Brown’s doing well for me now,” she said.
Asked if Lancers’ Brown squared tandem represents the best one-two girls basketball punch in the San Diego Section, Clements gave the questioner a “What do you think?” smirk.
“That,” said the coach of the Open Division champions, “is a no-brainer.”
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