Texas Tech pitcher Nijaree Canady, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)
Four teams remain in the NCAA softball Women’s College World Series (WCWS), and for the second consecutive year, NiJaree Canady and Texas Tech are in the mix. The Red Raiders advanced to the semifinals Sunday thanks to a thrilling 8-7 victory against UCLA that needed extra innings.
The winning pitcher was Canady, a two-time NFCA Pitcher of the Year and the active Division I leader in career ERA (1.04). And although she struggled on the mound at times during Sunday’s game, the senior in search of a national championship delivered when her team needed her most.
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Canady started against UCLA and went 2.1 innings, giving up three runs. She remained in the game on defense, and in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Red Raiders again tapped their ace to close out the game. However, Canady allowed a two-run homer for a 6-6 tie that ultimately sent the contest to extras.
With Texas Tech clinging to a one-run lead with one out in the ninth inning, and despite her earlier struggles, the senior veteran was trusted with the ball again. This time, Canady left no doubt. She retired her first batter on a flyout to left field, then struck out the final batter to secure the win.
Canady’s gutsy performance advanced Texas Tech to a matchup with No. 1 Alabama on Monday. The Red Raiders will need to take down the Crimson Tide twice in one day in order to move on to the WCWS Finals again, where they came up short against in-state rival Texas a year ago.
When asked in Sunday’s postgame press conference how her team could bounce back from Sunday’s marathon game to compete with the nation’s No. 1 team, Canady pointed to the cohesiveness the Red Raiders have exhibited all season.
“I think it’s just playing for each other again,” she said. “I feel like [when] we’re out there, we’re fighting for each other. We’re just trying to have each other’s back, the same way we’ve been playing all year.”
This is Canady’s fourth career WCWS semifinal appearance, and she’s hoping she can finally bring home a national championship trophy. She reached her first two college World Series with Stanford, but in a groundbreaking development in July 2024, she signed the first $1 million NIL deal in collegiate softball history to transfer to Texas Tech. It was the first NIL deal to grant her equity in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, a league she was drafted into (No. 2 overall) last month by the Austin Volts.
Texas Tech was an afterthought on the college softball landscape before Canady’s arrival, but she brought immediate success and unparalleled attention from fans and media alike.
But even in the face of such widespread fame, the attention Canady most desires is from her Heavenly Father. She has “Psalm 34:4” stitched on her glove, and also lists the verse with a cross emoji in her Instagram bio. She posts about her faith in Christ on social media as well.
Before the start of the WCWS, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) asked her a question about how she’s seen God at work.
“The biggest thing for me is just knowing softball is not my ride or die,” she answered. “Yes, I work hard for it, but at the end of the day, I feel like my job here is just to spread my faith to as many people as I can, and right now I use softball to do that. This world is not gonna be my final place. The end goal is to be with my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I’m just using softball to spread that message.
“… As I got older in my junior and senior year, I’m relying more on my faith, just knowing that this game doesn’t define me.”
One opportunity Canady has had to use her softball fame to spread the Gospel was by attending a faith-based lunch event in Lubbock last August in which she had a conversation with Texas Tech women’s chaplain Brandi Cantrell about her faith and her sport. Canady revealed that she grew up attending church and even participating in the choir, but as more of her time became diverted to her sports endeavors, time in church began to get crowded out.
Canady’s tenure at Texas Tech hasn’t only been a period of tremendous growth for her on the diamond and in the business world, but in her walk with Christ as well.
“I feel like these past six or seven months is just when I’ve really been able to dive into the Word and really grow my relationship overall,” she said at the event.
The impetus for that, she said, was all the attention that suddenly came her way.
“In January, I felt like I wanted to hear from the Lord, but I didn’t know how. So I just ordered a Bible from Amazon, and I was just trying to get in the Word and reading. I wanted to hear something. I just felt like I needed some sort of guidance,” she said.
It was the first time Canady had studied the Scriptures so deeply in search of God’s voice.
“[Jesus is] always there, He just might not show up in the way you’re expecting Him to,” Canady said. “I remember looking back in those first couple weeks reading my Bible, I feel like I was looking for some huge sign, just some huge way for Him to tell me what to do, when in reality He was always there. It just wasn’t in the way I thought He was.
“… He’ll never give up on you.”
Canady has come to discover that the profound and abiding love of Christ is what defines her, not her softball performances. Free in that truth, she leads Texas Tech on its quest for a national championship.
First pitch against Alabama is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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