Texas Tech Red Raiders – Official Athletics Website

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Thursday night might have marked Texas Tech’s debut at the Women’s College World Series. It certainly wasn’t for NiJaree Canady.

The junior right-hander, no stranger to the biggest stage in softball, powered the Red Raiders in the circle, tossing a two-hit shutout to lead Texas Tech to a 1-0 victory over Ole Miss at Devon Park. The win, which marked the first shutout by a team making its Women’s College World Series debut in 20 years, propels Texas Tech to the winner’s side of the bottom bracket where the Red Raiders will await the winner of the nightcap between No. 9 UCLA and No. 16 Oregon.

It was the third career complete game shutout at the Women’s College World Series for Canady, who made two previous trips with Stanford the last two seasons. Both of those outings came in elimination games, however, not in an opener, as Canady limited Washington to only one hit as a true freshman in 2023 and then tossed a three-hit shutout of Oklahoma State a year ago.

Canady retired the first 16 hitters she faced in the win as the Rebels didn’t get a runner on base until a one-out single up the middle from Angelina DeLeon in the sixth. The bottom of the Ole Miss lineup accounted for both of the hits against Canady with Taylor Malvin following with a line-drive single just off the outstretched glove of Bailey Lindemuth at third base.

Canady (31-5) responded with one of her 10 strikeouts and then a pop up to Lindemuth in foul territory to end Ole Miss’ lone threat of the game. She followed by striking out the side in the seventh, capping the performance with just how she started the outing after fanning all three Rebels she faced in the first.

Texas Tech (51-12) has now shut out its opponents in 26 of its 51 wins this season, adding on to a school record the Red Raiders set weeks ago. It was the seventh complete game shutout for Canady this season as she went the distance for the 19th time.

The Red Raiders (51-12) scored their only run in the fourth as Lauren Allred made it all the way from first on an Alana Johnson double down the left field line. Johnson reached third on the hit after Ole Miss Jaden Pone misplayed the ball at the wall, giving Allred more time to score the game’s lone run. It marked the 21st-consecutive game Texas Tech has scored before its opponent, the longest active streak in Division I currently.

The run disrupted a strong performance from Ole Miss starter Aliyah Binford (11-4), who kept Texas Tech’s bats at bay with only four hits and an unearned run in six full innings. Texas Tech loaded the based against Binford later in the fourth before she escaped trouble with a ground ball double play back to the circle.

Texas Tech will face either UCLA or Oregon at 6 p.m. CT Saturday with television coverage provided on ESPN.