NIL
Texas Tech softball scores three more big additions from transfer portal
Hear Florida softball’s Mia Williams and Reagan Walsh speak after series opening loss to Oklahoma Williams hit a game-tying two run home run, and Walsh collected three hits in the 6-5 extra inning series opening loss to Oklahoma. The Texas Tech softball team nearly won a national championship with a lot of pitching, running and […]
Hear Florida softball’s Mia Williams and Reagan Walsh speak after series opening loss to Oklahoma
Williams hit a game-tying two run home run, and Walsh collected three hits in the 6-5 extra inning series opening loss to Oklahoma.
The Texas Tech softball team nearly won a national championship with a lot of pitching, running and defense and a smidgen of slugging.
All of the sudden, slugging could be one of the Red Raiders’ strong suits next season. And more proven pitching is on the way to complement ace NiJaree Canady.
On Saturday, June 7, Ohio State catcher Jasmyn Burns committed to Tech. On Tuesday, June 11, the Red Raiders picked up commitments from Florida second baseman Mia Williams, UCLA two-way player and two-time 20-game winner Kaitlyn Terry and Southern Illinois shortstop Jackie Lis.
Williams and Lis followed Burns in announcing their pledges to Tech on social media, and Softball America and D1Softball reported Terry’s commitment.
Burns hit 25 home runs this season, second in the Big Ten and tied for fifth in NCAA Division I. Williams hit 19 home runs, fifth in the Southeastern Conference and among the top 40 nationally. She batted .335 with 44 RBIs and was second among Gators regulars with a .714 on-base percentage and an on-base-plus-slugging of 1.144.
Lis hit a Southern Illinois career record 44 home runs over three seasons, earning first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference recognition all three years. She batted .356 with 17 homers and 57 RBIs as a freshman, hit .344 with 16 homers and 36 RBIs as a sophomore and batted .358 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs as a junior this season.
She’s a granddaughter of the late Joe Lis, a Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder from 1970-77. Joe Lis Jr., her father, reached Triple-A with Toronto and Atlanta.
On the National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-America teams, Burns was one of 18 players on the first team and Williams was one of 18 players on the second team. Williams pronounces her first name “MEE-uh”. The Windermere (Fla.) Prep graduate was a sophomore this season.
She’s a daughter of former NBA point guard Jason Williams, who played 12 seasons and started on the Miami Heat team that beat the Dallas Mavericks for the 2006 NBA title. According to the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, Jason Williams “was a regular fixture at games, sitting behind home plate.”
Florida finished 48-17 with losses in its first two games at the Women’s College World Series.
Terry can help the Red Raiders both ways, especially in the circle. In her second season at UCLA, Terry was 20-5 with a 2.64 earned-run average over 33 appearances, including 22 starts. The sophomore lefthander from Phoenix Greenway struck out 172 in 148⅓ innings, also on a WCWS team that finished 55-13. She batted .257 with two home runs, 24 RBIs and was 9 for 9 in stolen bases.
She was the Pac-12 freshman of the year and first-team all-conference in 2024, going 21-3 with a 2.38 ERA.
Texas Tech finished 54-14, made its first trip to the WCWS and lost the deciding game in the best-of-three championship series to Texas. Before the series, Patrick Mahomes gifted the team with Texas Tech letter jackets featuring his Gladiator logo from Adidas. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Texas Tech alum and prominent fan of his alma mater also made it to Oklahoma City for the championship series Game 2.
The Red Raiders rode Canady, who went 34-7 with a 1.11 ERA. The junior righthander won the Honda Sport Award for softball as the most outstanding college player of the year.
Mihyia Davis, with 27 stolen bases, was one of five Red Raiders to reach double digits in that category. Canady was the only Tech player to reach double digits in home runs. She’s likely to have plenty of company in that department next season.