Matador basketball, baseball, softball set to play
Phoenix women's basketball at Arizona Western
Time: 5:30 p.m. today, The House, Yuma
Media: Time-Warner Ch. 74, 560-AM KBLU, www.azwestern.edu/athletics
Last game: The Matadors picked up a huge win at Cochise, 63-56; The Bears clinched their first playoff berth in five years with a 72-56 home win against Scottsdale.
Records: AWC (21-6 overall, 13-4 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Phoenix (13-14 overall, 6-11 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Samantha Wallace is AWC's leading scorer and scored 27 the last time the Matadors played Phoenix, a 64-61 road win. ... Daesha Jackson is only Phoenix's third-leading scorer but had 25 in the last meeting.
The lowdown: A 13th straight win in the series would also clinch a spot in the NJCAA Region I Division I postseason. ... Phoenix is only 1/2 game out of the No. 3 seed in the Division II playoffs. ... It's the home finale for the Matadors, with road games next week at South Mountain and Mesa to conclude the regular season. ... Antoinette Miller leads the Bears in scoring, assists, steals and field goal percentage. She took a year off last year after standing out at Yavapai, which discontinued its program.
(20) Phoenix men's basketball at (24) Arizona Western
Time: 7:30 p.m. today, The House, Yuma
Media: Time-Warner Ch. 74, 560-AM KBLU, www.azwestern.edu/athletics
Last game: The Matadors beat Cochise 66-61; The Bears throttled Scottsdale 87-63.
Records: AWC (22-5 overall, 17-2 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Phoenix (17-10 overall, 11-8 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Marvin Whitt is averaging 14.3 points and 3.2 assists, both tops on the Matadors. ... Former Matador Chris Solomon (played in 2008-09) leads the conference with 22.7 points per game.
The lowdown: The Matadors are tied with Central Arizona for first in Division I, but the Vaqueros hold the tiebreaker. ... AWC has won the last 13 in the series. ... The Bears have locked up the No. 1 seed for the Division II tournament.
Arizona Western baseball at Pima
Time: Noon today, Tucson (DH)
Last game: The Matadors split with San Diego City, winning 5-4 and losing 4-0; The Aztecs lost 7-5 to No. 9 Western Nevada.
Records: AWC (8-5 overall, 0-0 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Pima (3-6-1 overall, 0-0 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Travis Garcia-Perreria is not only 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, but he is hitting a team-best .600 for AWC. ... Luis Robles has all of Pima's homers (one) and steals (two) while leading the team with 10 hits.
The lowdown: AWC has won six straight in the series including sweeping the four-game series last year. It's the conference opener for both teams. ... Jordan Atkinson is the only everyday Matador batting more than .400 at .448. ... Until the last three doubleheaders, the Matadors had gone seven years with a DH sweep of Pima.
Arizona Western softball at Mesa
Time: Noon today, T-Bird Field, Mesa
Last game: The Matadors pounded GateWay 12-3 and 18-1 on Tuesday; The Thunderbirds split with Mesa
Records: AWC (14-6 overall, 6-2 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference); Mesa (5-6 overall, 4-4 ACCAC)
Players to watch: Mariah Caro hit a 350-foot home run in the first game for the Matadors against GateWay and has two on the year. ... Jackie Aguilar is 4-2 for Mesa with a 0.55 ERA and 66 strikeouts.
The lowdown: Where the Thunderbirds have one dominant pitcher, the Matadors have featured consistency on the pitching staff. Hayley Miller is 6-1 with a 3.13 ERA, while Briana VanSickle is 5-2 with a team-best 1.93 ERA. They have a combined 27 strikeouts — almost half of what Aguilar has this year. ... The Matadors lead the series 11-9 since 2006 but had won 10 of the 12 meetings prior to that.
— Edward Carifio
