Arizona State and Florida, the two best-hitting teams in the Women’s College World Series, won berths in the championship finals in Oklahoma City yesterday. The best-of-three series promises to be a great one, with veteran, well-coached teams evenly matched in every facet of the game but the most crucial one–pitching. That’s…
The Arizona Diamondbacks fell out of top spot in the National League West this past weekend after splitting their four-game series with the Washington Nationals at Chase Field. The Snakes are now sitting a half game behind the resurgent San Francisco Giants in the standings. There’s no need to…
Zach Duke made a big impact in his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks last Saturday, hitting the first home run of his career and throwing seven shutout innings. But the Duke was unable to recreate the magic in last night’s 6-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. The Nationals came out…
The ASU Sun Devils took a big first step yesterday at the women’s College World Series, getting by the Oklahoma Sooners 3-1 in a tautly played game in Oklahoma City. Games like this one always come down to a few critical plays, and this one was no exception.The moments that…
The top-ranked Arizona State women’s softball team takes the field this afternoon against the Oklahoma Sooners in a first-round game at the NCAA World Series in Oklahoma City. The 4 p.m. game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 (Channel 32). It should be a tight low-scoring affair that comes down…
Ian Kennedy had a three-game winning streak snapped last night and the Arizona Diamondbacks lost for the first time in seven games in a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Florida Marlins last night at Chase Field. Kennedy had been outstanding since April 20, shedding two and a half runs off…
The Arizona Diamondbacks have won nine of their last 10 and swept the Houston Astros over the weekend to take first place in the National League West. Not bad for a team no one expected to be any good. Success did not come without much effort from the Diamondbacks…
Top-ranked ASU found itself down to its final strike in its NCAA softball Super Regionals opener last night against Texas A&M, down 2-1 with the bases loaded. The Aggies had managed all of two hits against the Sun Devils freshman ace pitcher Dallas Escobedo, but both were solo home runs,…
Yahoo! Sports Fundamentals. Fan favorite Micah Owings returned to his rookie form in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies yesterday. Only difference between his game then and last night? Owings didn’t homer. Fortunately he didn’t have to. The popular Diamondback received early run support in the…
Marion scored a season-high 26 points in the intensely fought game, and did a terrific job defensively on one of the world’s best players, the taller and younger Kevin Durant.Dallas surely wouldn’t have won the game if Marion hadn’t been so good on both ends of the floor…
Yahoo! Sports It’s good! Er, bad, for the Diamondbacks at least. Talk about a reversal of fortune. Josh Collmenter lost his first game of the season against the Colorado Rockies yesterday while Joe Saunders won for the first time this year in a double-header at Coors Field. The Rockies pounded…
Both Arizona major-college softball programs rolled through their respective NCAA Regionals over the weekend in Tempe and Tucson, the first of two steps necessary to earn a coveted spot in the College World Series. Neither squad really was tested in the four-team tourney, each going unbeaten in three games to…
James Harden, who would have been a senior this past season at ASU had he not gone to the NBA after his sophomore season, destroyed the Dallas Mavericks in a nationally televised game last night, as his Oklahoma City Thunder evened their Western Conference final series at a game each…
There was another pitching duel at Chase Field last night. Arizona Diamondbacks reliever-turned-starter Josh Collmenter traded blanks with Atlanta Braves starter Jair Jurrjens until the Diamondbacks took the game’s first and last lead in the bottom of the sixth. The final score read 2-1. Chris Young played the hero on…
If you drove to work this morning thinking the Valley looks hazier than usual, you’re right — and Canada’s to blame.Mark Shaffer, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, tells New Times the haze isn’t the usual smog that often blocks the mountainous scenery during the morning commute, it’s…
[jump] With Josh Wilson (who was pinch running for veteran Russell Branyan) and Ryan Roberts on base, Johnson walloped a single up middle of the diamond to tie the score. Upton then provided a chopper over towards Braves second baseman Dan Uggla to bring home the winning run. Arizona moves…
The Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres continued their battle of National League West cellar-dwellers at Chase Field yesterday in a ballgame the Diamondbacks won 6-1. Young starter Daniel Hudson was good, scattering eight hits over seven innings while allowing one run to lower his earned run average by…
We loved Lamont “MoMo” Jones and his critical role as a quasi-point guard on an exciting Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team that literally came an inch from a berth in the Final Four. But we equally appreciated MoMo’s goofy motormouth, which was extensively quoted by team beat writers and others…
Time was, Arizona State’s fast-pitch softball team was a decided lesser-light, an afterthought of a program whose “rivalry” with the Arizona Wildcats was anything but. But the arrival of a new head coach, Clint Myers, a few years ago changed all that in a hurry. These days the program…
Yahoo! Sports Saunders is 0-5 to start the season. Except for a few innings thrown by struggling Joe Saunders, the Arizona Diamondbacks had a perfect weekend of pitching en route to a series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Diamondbacks lost Saunders’ start Friday, 4-3, then cranked out a…
Some baseball games are just fun to watch, no matter what team you follow or how seriously you enjoy the sport. San Francisco Giants’ ace Tim Lincecum and Arizona Diamondbacks’ number one starter Ian Kennedy exchanged zeroes for eight innings in a remarkable pitching duel last night before the Diamondbacks’…
Manny Pacquiao is the undisputed best pound-for-pound boxer in the world at the moment, an unofficial honor that is a first for a Filipino. He is a transcendent figure, a living myth, who combines what seems to be true humility and dignity with amazing pugilistic skills and power. We joined…
