Latest news with #USASoftballCollegiatePlayeroftheYear
USA Today
06-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady inks another 7-figure to return to Red Raiders
Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady inks another 7-figure to return to Red Raiders Texas Tech superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady has the Red Raiders one game away from a national championship, and it appears she'll be running it back for the 2026 season. Canady, who already became the first $1 million softball player last offseason when she signed a lucrative NIL deal to transfer from Stanford to Texas Tech, will be returning to Lubbock after reportedly signing a new contract with the school. While the exact compensation of that deal is not currently known, it is also worth seven figures per ESPN. The 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year led the Cardinal to back-to-back Women's College World Series appearances before joining Texas Tech, which is playing in the championship series in its first WCWS appearance. Canady earned First Team All-American honors yet again this season while turning in a 34-6 record and unreal 0.97 ERA, which leads Division I. She struck out 317 batters across 239 innings, and she even made an impact at the plate, batting .280 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI. Canady is the most valuable player in college softball right now, and the numbers back it up. Now, with a new deal in tow, she and the Red Raiders will look to capture their first national title in Friday night's decisive Game 3 against the rival Texas Longhorns.
New York Post
05-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Texas' Reese Atwood makes Texas Tech superstar NiJaree Canady pay on failed intentional walk
Texas Tech softball superstar NiJaree Canady is so good at throwing strikes that it cost the Red Raiders their game Wednesday night. The Red Raiders were just four outs away from securing a victory in Game 1 of the Women's College World Series Final — and Canady was having no issues mowing down Texas' order as the Longhorns still had a doughnut on the scoreboard in the 1-0 game. Then came the chaos. 3 NiJaree Canady and Texas Tech will now have to win two straight against Texas to win the WCWS. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images With two runners on, Canady elected to intentionally walk Texas catcher Reese Atwood. But on what was supposed to be ball four, Canady left her pitch out over the plate, and Atwood made her pay for it as she knocked in both baserunners and the Longhorns took the lead. Texas Tech couldn't strike back in the top of the final inning, and Texas took Game 1. 3 Reese Atwood's wild single in the bottom of the sixth inning wound up giving Texas the win in Game 1. Brett Rojo-Imagn Images The mistake was a rare one for Canady, as she's widely considered the best pitcher in college softball. The Kansas native played her first two collegiate seasons at Stanford, where she compiled a 41-10 pitching record and posted just a 0.67 ERA. She racked up 555 strikeouts to just 65 walks. She won the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award last season, PAC-12 Pitcher of the Year, was a First Team All-American, and a two-time PAC-12 First-Teamer. Canady then elected to give up the possible Stanford degree and received a whopping $1 million in NIL from Texas Tech to try and take the program out of the 29-21 gutter it was in a year ago. 3 NiJaree Canady has been a dominant force for Texas Tech this season. Brett Rojo-Imagn Images This season, she led the nation with the only ERA under 1.00 and has guided the Red Raiders to a 59-13 record as they chase their first-ever national title. She's certainly accustomed to throwing strikes, which is what may have been her downfall. Atwood said postgame to ESPN's Holly Rowe that she noticed Canady's first pitch of the at-bat was in the zone — from there, she was hunting another to take a crack at. 'I knew I was gonna have to take a risk to do something for my team,' Atwood said. Atwood was hitless throughout the WCWS prior to the game-winner, making the intentional walk decision and the miscue all the more brutal for Canady and Texas Tech. The teams return to action Thursday when the Longhorns will have a chance to take the best-of-three series for the championship.
CBS News
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Texas Tech ends OU's 4-year run as Women's College World Series champ after walk-off 3-2 win
Oklahoma's run of four straight Women's College World Series titles ended when Lauren Allred's walk-off sacrifice fly gave Texas Tech a 3-2 victory in the semifinals on Monday night. Coach Patty Gasso's Sooners (52-9) were down to their last strike in the top of the seventh inning when Abigale Dayton summoned a bit of magic, hitting a tying two-run homer off Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady. It was just her third longball of the season. But the Red Raiders (53-12) responded quickly in the bottom half. Mihyia Davis singled with one out and Hailey Toney followed with a double. Allred hit a fly ball to right field and Sydney Barker's throw to the plate was wide, allowing Davis to score easily. "Congratulations to Texas Tech," Gasso said. "They earned that. They played well. They hit well. They pitched well. So well deserved." Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco recounted how he told his team to refocus after giving up the lead. "We don't want it to be easy," he said. "It's Oklahoma. You knew it wasn't going to be easy. Let's go to work right here, win this right here in the bottom of the seventh." Texas Tech, in its first trip to the WCWS, will play Texas in the best-of-three championship series starting Wednesday. The Longhorns reached the finals for the third time in the past four years. They lost to Oklahoma in 2022 and 2024. Sam Landry, the No. 1 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft, took the complete-game loss. Glasco was Landry's coach at Louisiana last season, and Allred and Davis followed Glasco from Louisiana to Texas Tech. Glasco and Landry embraced after the game. "It's bittersweet," Landry said. "I wished him luck going forward. Neither one of us wanted to be where we met in the postseason. Super happy for them. That's a lot of my old teammates. I'm glad they're getting to experience it." Canady lost the shutout but got the win. She is the two-time reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Year and was the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last season. Formerly with Stanford, she signed a name, image and likeness deal worth more than $1 million to go to Texas Tech. Canady reached her first finals after leading Stanford to the semifinals the previous two years. "I think people doubted us, didn't think we'd get to this point," she said. "I think we just didn't have any pressure on us, just wanted to go play softball." Oklahoma had won nine straight elimination games, but the Sooners had lost the core of the team that won the previous championships. Their roster featured nine freshmen and just three seniors. Gasso said the future looks bright for the Sooners. "We're standing at the World Series as one of the top three teams left, with a team of 14 newcomers," Gasso said, "and I just shared with them in the locker room how much fun I had with them coaching them, watching them grow, watching them be hungry, watching them never quit."
Chicago Tribune
03-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Texas Tech ends Oklahoma's 4-year run as Women's College World Series champ — now faces Texas for the title
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma's run of four straight Women's College World Series titles ended when Lauren Allred's walk-off sacrifice fly gave Texas Tech a 3-2 victory in the semifinals on Monday night. Coach Patty Gasso's Sooners (52-9) were down to their last strike in the top of the seventh inning when Abigale Dayton summoned a bit of magic, hitting a tying two-run home run off Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady. It was just her third longball of the season. But the Red Raiders (53-12) responded quickly in the bottom half. Mihyia Davis singled with one out and Hailey Toney followed with a double. Allred hit a fly ball to right field and Sydney Barker's throw to the plate was wide, allowing Davis to score easily. 'Congratulations to Texas Tech,' Gasso said. 'They earned that. They played well. They hit well. They pitched well. So well deserved.' Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco recounted how he told his team to refocus after giving up the lead. 'We don't want it to be easy,' he said. 'It's Oklahoma. You knew it wasn't going to be easy. Let's go to work right here, win this right here in the bottom of the seventh.' Texas Tech, in its first trip to the WCWS, will play Texas in the best-of-three championship series starting Wednesday. The Longhorns reached the finals for the third time in the past four years. They lost to Oklahoma in 2022 and 2024. Sam Landry, the No. 1 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft, took the complete-game loss. Glasco was Landry's coach at Louisiana last season, and Allred and Davis followed Glasco from Louisiana to Texas Tech. Glasco and Landry embraced after the game. 'It's bittersweet,' Landry said. 'I wished him luck going forward. Neither one of us wanted to be where we met in the postseason. Super happy for them. That's a lot of my old teammates. I'm glad they're getting to experience it.' Canady lost the shutout but got the win. She is the two-time reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Year and was the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last season. Formerly with Stanford, she signed a name, image and likeness deal worth more than $1 million to go to Texas Tech. Canady reached her first finals after leading Stanford to the semifinals the previous two years. 'I think people doubted us, didn't think we'd get to this point,' she said. 'I think we just didn't have any pressure on us, just wanted to go play softball.' Oklahoma had won nine straight elimination games, but the Sooners had lost the core of the team that won the previous championships. Their roster featured nine freshmen and just three seniors. Gasso said the future looks bright for the Sooners. 'We're standing at the World Series as one of the top three teams left, with a team of 14 newcomers,' Gasso said, 'and I just shared with them in the locker room how much fun I had with them coaching them, watching them grow, watching them be hungry, watching them never quit.' Katie Stewart hit a home run, Mac Morgan and Teagan Kavan combined on a 3-hitter and Texas defeated Tennessee 2-0 on Monday to reach the Women's College World Series championship series for the third time in four years. Kavan, who threw a complete game with eight strikeouts in Saturday's 4-2 victory over Oklahoma, came on in relief of Morgan in the fifth inning and didn't allow a hit the rest of the way. She struck out the Volunteers' Emma Clarke to end the game. Texas (54-11) will play either Texas Tech in the best-of-three series, which starts Wednesday. Karlyn Pickens, a National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-American, allowed just one earned run on five hits and struck out nine for Tennessee (47-17). 'My heart is full because of the young ladies to my right and the young ladies in that locker room,' Vols coach Karen Weekly said. 'They're sad for all the right reasons. It's not about wins and losses; it's about the joy they've experienced being together every single day. And I think people saw that in the way we played. They saw them bounce back. They saw how resilient, how gritty and tough they were.' Texas loaded the bases against Pickens in the third with one out but couldn't score. Reese Atwood struck out swinging and Joley Mitchell popped out to the catcher to end the inning. Things got heated in the top of the fourth when Tennessee hitting coach Craig Snider, the former Texas Tech head coach, appeared to have words with the Texas dugout and was ejected. 'I don't know what transpired,' Texas coach Mike White said. 'I think he was upset about the call by the umpire at home plate … . The rule says any time an assistant coach hits the field and questions something it's an automatic ejection. So I think that's what he was upset about, so I think he decided to maybe just to take some stuff out on us.' Weekly said Snider was frustrated with the strike zone. 'You would hope that you get a little bit of leeway because of the stage you're on right here; you certainly don't want to lose a coach when you're playing for the biggest game of the season,' she said. Stewart homered off Pickens in the bottom of the fourth, a high drive to left that drifted beyond the outstretched glove of Alannah Leach. Pickens recovered quickly, striking out the next three batters she faced. 'We had just enough wind to help that home run go over,' White said. 'That was fortunate there. Looking down on us, maybe, Teagan's grandma, so she puffed one out there.' Kavan pitched Saturday while mourning the death of her 97-year-old grandmother. Morgan got the win, striking out four and walking one. The Longhorns added an insurance run in the sixth on a throwing error by Vols third baseman Taylor Pannell.
Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Oklahoma's four-year run as Women's College World Series champ ends with Texas Tech walkoff win
But the Red Raiders (53-12) responded quickly in the bottom half. Mihyia Davis singled with one out and Hailey Toney followed with a double. Allred hit a flyball to right field and Sydney Barker's throw to the plate was wide, allowing Davis to score easily. The Texas Tech Red Raiders' historic run continues ✨ — Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) Texas Tech, in its first trip to the WCWS, will play Texas in the best-of-three championship series starting Wednesday. The Longhorns reached the finals for the third time in the past four years. They lost to Oklahoma in 2022 and 2024. Advertisement Oklahoma had won nine straight elimination games. Canady lost the shutout but got the win. She is the two-time reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Year and was the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year last season. Formerly with Stanford, Canady signed a name, image and likeness deal worth more than $1 million to go to Texas Tech.
