OKLAHOMA CITY — After giving up the lead in a Game 1 loss to Texas, NiJaree Canady was determined not to surrender Texas Tech’s lead again.
With the tying run on third in the final inning, the Red Raiders ace had one thought as she faced Texas batter Kayden Henry.
“Just go right at her,” Canady said. “Like I said, [Wednesday] night was on me. … I was just fighting for my team.”
Canady did just that. She struck out Henry on three pitches to give the Red Raiders the 4-3 victory, sending the Women’s College World Series championship to a decisive third game Friday.
“NiJa was huge,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said. “She went out there and pitched her tail off.”
Canady went the distance for the Red Raiders for the fifth straight game in Oklahoma City.
She cruised through the first six innings as Texas Tech entered the seventh with a 4-1 lead.
But an error and a hit by pitch put two runners on with no outs. Texas’ Leighann Goode then doubled to left-center, scoring one. Katie Cimusz’s sacrifice fly trimmed the Texas Tech lead to one, and a groundout moved Goode to third.
But with Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback and Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes in attendance, Canady showed why the Red Raiders gave her a million-dollar name, image and likeness deal during the offseason to transfer to Texas Tech from Stanford.
Canady’s 495th pitch of this WCWS produced the game-ending strikeout, keeping alive the Red Raiders’ hopes of winning their first softball national title.
“Obviously [Wednesday] night wasn’t my best game. I feel like this game wasn’t my best game, either,” she said. “I was just leaving it out on the field.”
Despite not having her best, Canady shut down the Longhorns on Wednesday, as well, taking a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning. But back-to-back singles and stolen bases put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs.
Canady attempted to intentionally walk Reese Atwood to load the bases and set up the force out at any base. But as Canady tried to toss ball four, Atwood belted the pitch to left field, propelling Texas to the 2-1 win.
On Thursday, as the Longhorns threatened to deliver another stunning, come-from-behind win, Glasco visited the mound and called the infielders to huddle around Canady.
“I just said, ‘We’re going to win this game,” he said. “We’re fine. … we’re going to finish this.”
After the game-ending strikeout, Canady ripped off her mask and repeatedly pumped her fist, as Mahomes did the same from the Devon Park box above home plate.
“For NiJa, to pitch the way she’s pitched after 14 innings. … in less than 26-27 hours,” Glasco said, “just amazing, to have the mental strength to get through that seventh.”
No pitcher since Alabama’s Jackie Traina in 2012 has thrown every pitch at the WCWS for a national championship team, according to ESPN Research.
Glasco vowed that Canady would start again Friday, on one condition: “If she’s breathing.”
