– In 1995, Arizona All-American shortstop Laura Espinoza hit an NCAA-record 37 home runs. That record has stood the test of time; Espinoza's record still stands, however, it is under siege like never before. Through Friday, Oklahoma catcher Kendall Wells had hit 25 home runs, and UCLA outfielder Megan Grant had hit 23. The only Wildcat to challenge Espinoza's record of 37 was 2009 catcher Stacie Chambers, who hit 31.
Arizona's Laura Espinoza hits against UNLV in the 1995 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
– When former Sunnyside High School four-time state wrestling champion Sergio Vega won the NCAA championship at 141 pounds last week — Vega was undefeated at 24-0 — he became the fifth ex-Blue Devil to win a men's national championship. Eddie Urbano won the 1985 NCAA title at Arizona State; Nate Gallick won the 2006 championship at Iowa State; Eric Larkin won the 2003 championship at ASU; and Roman Bravo-Young won the 2021 and 2022 NCAA championships at Penn State. What made Vega's championship so impressive is that he beat two-time defending NCAA champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in the title match. At Sunnyside, Vega went 140-2 with four consecutive state championships.
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– In the second year of a massive rebuilding project of the Arizona men's and women's swimming programs, coach Ben Loorz’s UA women's swimmers finished No. 29 in the NCAA finals last week in Atlanta. It was the second-best finish among Big 12 teams; Kansas was 25th. ASU was 37th. From 1996-2013, Arizona's women's swimmers did not finish outside the NCAA Top 10 in the yearly championships. Loorz's men's team competed in the NCAA finals this weekend in Atlanta.
– Arizona's two All-Big 12 players from 2025, shortstop Mason White and outfielder Brendan Summerhill, open their second minor-league seasons this week. White, from Salpointe Catholic, opens with the Class A Greenville (S.C.) Drive and Summerhill opens with the Class A Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs. They will be rivals in the South Atlantic League. Arizona's 2016 All-Pac-12 shortstop Scott Kingery made the Chicago Cubs opening day roster; he is a reserve infielder who has played in 344 major league games. Sahuaro High and UA grad Cesar Salazar, who has been part of the Houston Astros for part of the last three seasons, was assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land (Texas) to open the season. Outfielder Chase Davis, the UA's best player in 2024, a first-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, will open with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals.
– One ex-Wildcat major-leaguer has retired: Brad Mills, who played for the Montreal Expos from 1980-83 and was the manager of the Houston Astros from 2010-12, has left his job as ex-UA teammate Terry Francona’s bench coach for the Cincinnati Reds. Mills had been on Francona's staffs for the Phillies, Red Sox and Guardians. Former Sahuaro High outfielder Alex Verdugo, a former Yankee, Dodger and Red Sox outfielder, played in two spring training games with the San Diego Padres but is not listed on the Padres active roster of their Triple-A club in El Paso.
