Canady pitches a 2-hitter, strikes out 10 as No. 12 seed Texas Tech tops Ole Miss 1-0 in Women’s CWS

By Canadian Press on May 29, 2025.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Nijaree Canady pitched a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts, and No, 12 seed Texas Tech edged unseeded Mississippi 1-0 on Thursday night in the first Women’s College World Series appearance for both teams.

Canady, last year’s USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, led Stanford to the national semifinals two straight years before transferring to Texas Tech. She led the Red Raiders to their first Big 12 regular season and tournament titles.

Canady was dominant against Ole Miss in a game delayed 75 minutes by lightning and rain. She retired the first 16 batters she faced, and struck out the side in the first and seventh innings. She blew a fastball by Rebels’ slugger Lexi Brady for the game’s final out.

Texas Tech (51-12) will play either Oregon or UCLA on Saturday for a spot in the semifinals. Ole Miss (42-20) will face the loser of Oregon and UCLA in Friday’s elimination game.

Angelina DeLeon ended Canady’s run with a sixth-inning single up the middle for Ole Miss and moved to second on an infield single by Taylor Malvin. But Canady struck out Jaden Pone looking and got Lair Beautae to foul out to third.

Texas Tech’s Lauren Allred got the game’s first hit in the fourth inning, singling inside the third base line off the Rebels’ Aliyah Binford. Allred scored on a double by Alana Johnson and a throwing error by the left fielder to give Canady all the run support she needed.

Binford only allowed four hits and did not give up an earned run.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Tim Willert, The Associated Press