Arizona Desert Swarm

Arizona softball dealt with the rain and cold but wasn’t able to deal with the Washington Huskies. | Photo by Madison Farwell / Arizona Athletics In-game adjustments were going to be key to success against Washington. That’s what Arizona softball head coach Caitlin Lowe said before the Wildcats left for Seattle. The team made enough of those adjustments to be competitive. They just didn’t make enough to win. Arizona lost both games in a doubleheader against Washington on Saturday afternoon. In the first game, the Huskies defeated the Wildcats 3-1. UW returned to...

Arizona Athletics PHOENIX—In losing its first four Pac-12 road games this season, Arizona scored first only to give up the lead in the middle innings, yet still manage to bring the tying or go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth. The Wildcats once again took an early lead on Saturday night, but the fifth straight conference loss didn’t include any potential for a late-inning comeback. Arizona lost 7-4 at ASU in front of 5,753 fans at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, its ninth consecutive Pac-12 road setback dating back to last season. A loss Sunday to the Sun Devils...

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Arizona was a middle-of-the-pack rushing team in the Pac-12 last season, averaging 144 yards per game overall and 151.2 in league games. Those numbers were only slightly better than in 2021, unlike the pass attack which saw a 40 percent production uptick as the Wildcats became a much more explosive offense. A dependable run game will be needed for the UA to continue to be dangerous with the ball in 2023, and it helps that it brings back all four ballcarriers from a year ago. Michael Wiley is back for his fifth season in the program, one...

Arizona Athletics PHOENIX—In a game with more than 280 pitches thrown, it was the choice to pass on not throwing one pitch that set the stage for Arizona’s fourth straight Pac-12 loss. Arizona State’s Luke Keaschall hit two home runs, including a go-ahead 3-run blast in the bottom of the third, as Arizona fell 6-5 in the series opener on Friday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. It was the eighth consecutive conference road loss for the Wildcats (13-7, 3-4 Pac-12) dating back to last season. And like in each game of being swept last weekend at UCLA, just a few...

Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Some are going, but the player Adia Barnes called her most important recruit is not. Helena Pueyo announced on Thursday that she will return for her fifth season with Arizona women’s basketball. Thrilled to announce the return of @Helena_Pueyo6 !! #MadeForIt x #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/ld8qYOLHpg— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) March 24, 2023 In a post that resembles the ones she makes when someone commits, Barnes hinted at the news on Wednesday evening. It fit with the comments she made all year about how...

Arizona freshman pitcher Sydney Somerndike practices at the Washington indoor facility in Seattle on Mar. 24, 2023. | Photo by Madison Farwell / Arizona Athletics What is your role? That’s a question that players all over the softball diamond have to answer, but it’s especially true for the five pitchers on the Arizona staff. With only 21 innings of playing time to go around on most weekends, finding and fulfilling that role is critical if a pitcher wants time in the circle. So far, most of them have done just that. Junior pitcher Devyn Netz certainly knows her...

Arizona Athletics Growing up in Tucson, Kiko Romero went to plenty of Arizona baseball games, but he isn’t certain he ever had the good fortune of taking in an Arizona/ASU clash at either Hi Corbett Field or the old on-campus Sancet Field. “I might have went to one maybe a couple years, but it was up in Tempe,” Romero said. Now set to play in his first Territorial Cup clash, Romero and the rest of the Wildcats are trying to look at the Sun Devils as just another opponent. “I don’t think anything actually needs to be added to” the matchup, Romero said. “I...

Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/ It’s roster turnover SZN The 2022-23 season came to an end much earlier than hoped for Arizona’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, both of whom failed to make it out of the first weekend of their respective NCAA tournaments. That means the offseason is well underway, and with that, a lot of expected roster movement. To keep track of all the activity, both outgoing and (potentially incoming), we’ve put it all together below: Men’s basketball UA players entering the portal G Kerr Kriisa G Adama Bal Out of eligibility G...

For the third time in her career, Arizona diver Delaney Schnell has been named Pac-12 Women’s Diver of the Year, while her coach, Dwight Dumais, has earned Pac-12 Diving Coaching of the Year honors. Schnell concluded her collegiate career last week by winning the NCAA national championship in platform diving. The sixth-year senior is a 13-time All-American. Earlier this season Schnell took home the Pac-12 title in the 3-meter and 1-meter, while finishing runner-up in platform. Dumais has coached Schnell for the last five seasons at Arizona. Dumais also coached Schnell to a...

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports In true fashion, Kerr Kriisa didn’t shy away from addressing his decision to depart Arizona and enter the NCAA transfer portal. Speaking on A Nameless Podcast with co-hosts Pelle Larsson and Josh Kahn, Kriisa gave some clarity behind his decision to transfer, albeit without going into too many specifics. “Honestly I just think it was good for a fresh start for me and obviously for the program,” Kriisa said. “I’m very grateful and thankful for the three years I was here. Looking around nowadays college basketball,...

@NazaiahCa on Twitter The Arizona Wildcats received some good news on Wednesday night after a busy weekend with recruits visiting the campus. The ‘Cats secured the commitment of 3-star linebacker Nazaiah Caravallo. All glory to God! I have verbally committed to the University of Arizona. Thank you to all my family and coaches for helping me through my journey. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JEctRhWyXd— Nazaiah Caravallo (@NazaiahCa) March 23, 2023 Caravallo, who measures in at 6-foot-2 and around 225 pounds, is a very solid pass rusher and edge player. He has great...

Photo by Rebecca Noble/ According to senior women’s basketball writer Chantel Jennings of The Athletic, Madi Conner is not the only Arizona women’s basketball player to put her name in the portal on Wednesday. Added to the list are freshmen Lemyah Hylton and Paris Clark, as well as junior Lauren Ware. Quite a few Arizona women's basketball players ending up in the transfer portal tonight: Lauren Ware, Madison Conner, Paris Clark and Lemyah Hylton.— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) March 23, 2023 Hylton played sparingly this season while Ware was out for...

Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via In an announcement of her entry into the transfer portal, Arizona women’s basketball guard Madi Conner posted a thank you on her Instagram story on Wednesday evening. “Thank you Tucson!!! Here’s to new beginnings.” Screenshot of Madison Conner’s Instagram story Conner came to Arizona halfway through the 2020-21 season as an early entrant and was with the team on its run to the national championship game. Because of the extra year granted to players who played during that season only, she was...

Photo by Christian Petersen/ Wildcats are running out of backcourt players The 2022-23 season was expected to be a breakout one for Adama Bal, but that never happened. If next year is when the French wing shows his true potential, it’ll be at another school. Bal has entered the NCAA transfer portal, the second Arizona player to do so on Wednesday. Wildcat nation!! Thank you for everything I have decided to enter the transfer portal and explore new opportunities I am thankful and grateful to have been part of this amazing journey with my teammates coaches and you...

Photo by Mike Christy / Arizona Athletics Hitting 24 home runs in a season has a lot of consequences, some of them good and some of them challenging. For Arizona softball second baseman Allie Skaggs, she’s learning to maneuver around the challenging ones this season. “When you put up 20-plus homeruns the year before, people are gonna be careful with you,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “And they just they weren’t as careful last year. She got more pitches. And this year they’re being very careful and pitching around her and she’s understanding that...