NiJaree Canady will take the mound in the biggest game of her athletic career, as she looks to lead Texas Tech softball to its first national championship in program history. Although the pressure will be immense in Oklahoma City’s Devon Park, she will have one less thing to worry about before the final game of the 2025 Women’s College World Series commences. The phenomenal pitcher will return to Lubbock for 2026, as her bank account expands to huge proportions.

The Matador Club, the Aggies’ NIL collective, will pay Canady a minimum of $1.2 million, per On3’s Pete Nakos. The junior became the first softball player to secure a $1 million deal when she transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech in 2024, and now she is raising the bar even further. The university invested in this all-time talent, and after seeing a momentous season unfold, it is reaffirming its commitment.

NiJaree Canady has delivered for Texas Tech

Canady arrived on campus with towering expectations surrounding her, following a campaign in which she won USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honors with the Cardinals. The right-hander has lived up to her sterling reputation, posting a 34-6 record with a 0.97 ERA and 317 strikeouts in 239 innings this season. She is also batting .280 and has 11 home runs.

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The two-time First-Team All-American will try to tie a bow on a spectacular first year in Texas Tech in Friday’s championship rubber match. Following a costly blunder in the opening game of the WCWS Finals, Canady bounced back in Thursday’s battle. She allowed just two runs on six hits and struck out six batters in seven innings of work, putting the Aggies in position to earn a 4-3 victory.

Texas Tech alum and Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes gushed over Canady’s greatness, beaming with pride as his Alma mater pulls within one win of seizing the crown. Win or lose, this squad will always be the one that ended Oklahoma’s unparalleled reign of terror. But the Aggies are not thinking about moral victories or consolation prizes.

With NiJaree Canady on the bump, they expect to best their Lone Star State foe and bring home the title. The trail blazer will throw the first pitch at approximately 8 p.m. ET.

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Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints, providing a unique writing voice due to his in-depth knowledge of New York sports. Alex resides in Connecticut after receiving his journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island.

John Blackwell gave serious consideration to entering the NBA Draft this offseason, but that was the only way he was leaving the Wisconsin Badgers.

He withdrew his name from the draft last month, confirming he would be back playing for Greg Gard this season, but apparently other schools came calling, too.

He told Jesse Temple of Badger Connect that he heard from other schools this spring, but he didn’t have any interest in playing for a different college basketball program.

He share with Temple his strong rebuttal for those schools that reached out, telling them that they should have recruited Blackwell out of high school if they wanted him to play for them.

He was locked in on his basketball journey. He wanted to see if he was ready for the NBA, and if he wasn’t, he knew that returning to the Badgers was his next best option.

It’s a refreshing show of program loyalty in the NIL and transfer portal age that sees top players regularly bouncing between schools.

It might not have been the response he wanted from the pros, but another year at Wisconsin will give him the opportunity to be the No. 1 option for Gard and try to lead the team to postseason success.

Maybe then, the NBA Draft will be more likely.

Kentucky was forced to replace 85 percent of at-bats and 75 percent of innings pitched coming off the program’s first College World Series in 2024 — Nick Mingione dealing with just short of a total rebuild in 2025. Still, though, the Bat Cats managed to return to the NCAA Tournament and made a push to the Regional Final before losing to West Virginia in a 13-12 heartbreaker.

The 12 one-run losses hurt, but plenty to build off of — assuming you could keep your up-and-coming talent going into 2026. All eyes were on the transfer portal, which opened on Monday, June 2 with a 30-day window running through July 1.

Kentucky lost some talent with James McCoy — a starter on the 2024 CWS team — being the biggest name to leave the program. Today, though, the Bat Cats received massive news regarding most of the other players to watch.

According to Jacob Rudner of Baseball America, standouts Tyler Bell, Ben Cleaver, Ryan Schwartz and Nate Harris will all return to Lexington, keeping the majority of star talent home going into 2026.

“UK Baseball’s impressive core group will stay intact. All four guys would have been commodities,” he wrote.

That was the first run of good news on Friday, followed immediately by another report from Derek Terry of Bat Cats Central indicating second baseman Luke Lawrence would also return next season.

“Not listed among the names above, but second baseman Luke Lawrence is also returning next season after playing in 57 games this year,” he said. “Lawrence ended up hitting .306 by the end of the year and was really trending up. Very experienced college player.”

Not listed among the names above, but second baseman Luke Lawrence is also returning next season after playing in 57 games this year. Lawrence ended up hitting .306 by the end of the year and was really trending up. Very experienced college player. https://t.co/qOr30nQGfe

— Derek Terry (@DerekSTerry) June 6, 2025

Lawrence, eligible for the draft, is expected to turn down the pros and other options in the portal to start at second base for Kentucky next season.

“I’m really excited about next year’s team,” Mingione said to wrap up the season. “I think if guys continue to grow and develop and we bring all of this back. Depending on what happens with the draft, if you told me we were a preseason Top 10 team in the country, I could believe it. That’s how highly I think about the guys we have coming back offensively. I really believe, depending on how all of this works with the portal, we have a chance to be special next year.”

Lawrence was second on the team with a .306 batting average while Bell was second with 10 home runs while batting .296. Schwartz also hit .317 and knocked in 15 runs in 23 games. Cleaver was 6-3 with a 3.25 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 83 innings. Harris finished 5-2 with a 4.70 ERA and was the winning pitcher in the NCAA Regional win over No. 11 Clemson.

Now, all five are back for 2026.

On3’s 2025 live transfer portal tracker is monitoring all developments across college baseball with Pete Nakos singling out entries by team, the Bat Cats up to 14 total as of Friday.

Kentucky
Landon Franklin, 6-foot, 185 pounds, INF, Redshirt freshman
Cooper Robinson, 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, RHP, Senior
Hayden Mains, 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Utility, Freshman -> Morehead State
Eli Small, 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, OF, Sophomore
Aidan Larkin, 6-foot, 185 pounds, INF, Freshman
Nolan Belcher, 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, C, Freshman
James McCoy, 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, OF/RHP, Redshirt Junior
Bradley Ferrell, 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, RHP, Freshman
Griffin Cameron, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, OF, Sophomore
Zak Spurrier, 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, RHP, Freshman
Hayden Smith, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, LHP, Redshirt Sophomore
Kyuss Gargett, 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, INF, Sophomore
Dylan Koontz, 6-foot, 215 pounds, INF, Grad transfer
Logan Grubb, 6-foot, 170 pounds, LHP, Freshman

Let’s hope that first list continues to grow and the second list slows down before the portal window closes on July 1.

Until then, we celebrate some MASSIVE return commitments for the Bat Cats.

STARKVILLE – As professional softball seasons approach, Mississippi State will be represented by five former players in the Athletes United Softball League (AUSL) and Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF).
 
Raelin Chaffin and Sierra Sacco’s AUSL career begins with the Talons in Rosemont, Illinois, on Saturday, June 7. They will face off against Mia Davidson’s Bandits, though that franchise will be without the Bulldog star for the first few weeks of the season. Davidson is one of 10 players who will miss the beginning of the season while finishing the first half of the Japan Diamond League (JDL) season. She will return stateside from her obligations with Denso Bright Pegasus on June 16.
 
This summer will mark the inaugural season for the AUSL, which is transitioning to a traditional team format for the first time. Davidson has previously played three seasons with Athletes Unlimited under its unique individual scoring format. She finished as high as third in the 2023 AUX season and was taken by the Bandits with the first pick in the fifth round of the AUSL Draft in January. She won her first professional team championship overseas this spring, winning Liga Mexicana de Softbol’s Serie De La Reina with the Diablos Rojos.
 
Sacco concluded her Bulldog career as a consensus All-American and a Top 25 Finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She started every game of her career in centerfield and as the leadoff batter. Sacco among the top 10 in MSU single-season history in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs, hits, doubles and total bases this year.
 
Chaffin ended her career receiving NFCA First Team All-South Region and Second Team All-SEC honors. She became the first Bulldog pitcher to win 20 games, make 40 appearances and strike out 200 batters since 2015. Along the way, she set a new single-season school record with 10 wins in conference play. She was one of just three SEC pitchers with 200 strikeouts, and the only one to do so without reaching the Women’s College World Series. She led the league in strikeouts looking and ranked fourth in wins and innings pitched.
 
AUSL games will be broadcast by a combination of ESPN platforms, MLB.TV and local regional networks. ESPN platforms will air 40 of the league’s games, beginning with the Talons vs. Bandits game on Tuesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. CT. All games not on ESPN will be available through MLB.TV and the MLB App with no subscription required.
 
Meanwhile, Aspen Wesley recently re-signed with the WPF’s Monarchs who have relocated from Texas to Orlando, Florida. Chloe Malau’ulu will join her, signing with the franchise this week after spending two seasons with the OKC Spark. The Monarchs open their season in the Bahamas against the relocated Atlanta Smoke on June 19-21.
 
Last summer, Malau’ulu won an Association of Fastpitch Professionals championship with the Spark. She batted .235 on the season, playing 21 games. Wesley posted a 2.48 ERA and was named a WPF All-Star in her first professional season.
 
The Bulldogs have now seen 26 players go on to play professionally with 16 of those being coached by Samantha Ricketts. MSU was one of only two programs in the nation with two AUSL draftees this spring, and at least one future pro has been on the roster every season since 2013.
 
For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on X, Facebook and Instagram by searching “HailStateSB.”
 
 

In July 2024, Texas Tech—a school with virtually no softball history to speak of—landed Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady in the transfer portal. The Red Raiders lured Canady with a $1 million NIL deal, the largest for a college softball player since the practice’s legalization.

Talk about a return on investment. Texas Tech will play Texas Friday in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series finals—with the winner taking home the national championship.

Before the big showdown, however, the Red Raiders got some accounting done. On Friday, Canady’s manager Derrick Shelby told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that Canady had signed another million-dollar NIL contract with Texas Tech.

Canady is 34-6 this season with a 0.97 ERA and 317 strikeouts in 239 innings pitched. She’s also slashing .280/.418/.645 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs in 107 at-bats.

The Red Raiders had made seven NCAA tournament appearances ever before this year. How quickly the state of a program can change in college sports’s brave new world.

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• Louisville baseball is facing Miami in a best-of-three NCAA super regional series at Jim Patterson Stadium. The winner will advance to the College World Series.
• Chris Dominguez, who was Bellarmine’s head coach for two years, is part of the Miami baseball coaching staff.

Dan McDonnell’s first season as Louisville baseball head coach ended in the program’s first trip to the College World Series. Chris Dominguez was a big part of that feat as the MVP of the Columbia Regional before totaling three home runs in the CWS.

Dominguez, who was Bellarmine’s head coach for two years, is back in Louisville this weekend as a member of Miami’s coaching staff. U of L and the Hurricanes are set for a best-of-three NCAA Tournament super regional series, which begins at 3 p.m. today at Jim Patterson Stadium.

“Chris is, you hate to say one of your favorites, because you have a lot of favorites,” McDonnell said. “But man, he was a fun kid to coach because he played so hard between the lines. But I call him a gentle giant. He was just a sweet person outside the lines.”

The 2009 Big East Player of the Year was an assistant on Bellarmine’s coaching staff for a year before being named the Knights’ head coach in 2022. He returned to his hometown this season as an assistant coach for Miami. McDonnell coached against his former player the past three seasons when Dominguez was at Bellarmine. But this will be the first time this season that the two will be in opposite dugouts since Louisville and Miami didn’t play during ACC action.

“You knew that Chris was going to be a darn good coach because he’d always come back here in the offseason,” McDonnell said. “He loved (to) talk hitting, working with the hitters, and so him being at Bellarmine and Miami and back and forth the past couple go rounds, we’ve stayed in touch. It’s a guy that we should always celebrate whenever he comes here.”

Stay tuned below for updates throughout the first game of the Louisville vs. Miami super regional series.

Stream Louisville baseball vs. Miami (free trial)

Munroe, without even registering a hit, helped add to U of L’s lead. He flied out to right field, which allowed Matt Klein to score.

1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB

UM left two runners on base as Forbes struckout Cuvet swinging.

0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB

The Cardinals lost one challenge but have one remaining after unsuccessfully questioning whether Hurricane Michael Torres was actually safe at first.

After a double from Klein, and intentional walk of Rose and King Jr. getting hit by a pitch, the Cards had loaded the bases with zero outs. Pike hit a line drive to the Ciscar, but that allowed Klein and Rose to score. Then, Munroe his a three-RBI homer in his second at bat to put Louisville up 7-1.

5 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB

Hurricanes starter AJ Ciscar was swapped for left-handed pitcher Jake Dorn after Louisville recorded four hits and five runs.

Ciscar went back to the bullpen with one strikeout, one walk, and six earned runs in 2 and 1/3 innings.

Forbes started off strong, striking out Max Galvin swinging. But then he hit Daniel Cuvet, Gonzales hit a double off the next pitch, and Forbes walked Derek Williams. With the bases loaded and just one out, Zion Rose caught a fly ball while Cuvet scored. Forbes struckout the next and final batter swinging.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB

Garrett Pike and Jake Munroe kicked things off with back-to-back out-of-the-park homeruns. Then Miami left fielder Max Galvin caught three flies in a row to end the inning.

2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB

Forbes walked the second and third batters of the inning and hit the fourth, making for a bases-loaded situation with just one out. But he showed great resolve, striking out the next two batters swinging, saving Louisville from an early deficit.

0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB

Only Matt Klein managed to get on base for the Cards (single up the middle) as Ciscar struckout Zion Rose, and two other Louisville batters (Eddie King Jr. and Lucas Moore) succumbed to Miami’s defensive playmaking.

0 runs, 1 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB

Forbes struck out two batters, one swinging and one looking. Miami batter Max Galvin hit a single and stole second as Forbes recorded his second strikeout. Left fielder Zion Rose caught a fly from Dorian Gonzalez Jr. to end the inning.

0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB

Right-handed pitcher Patrick Forbes will get the start for U of L. Forbes has a 3-2 record, 98 strikeouts, a 4.62 ERA and has played in 60 and 1/3 innings this season. AJ Ciscar will start for Miami. Ciscar has a 6-1 record, 64 strikeouts, 3.78 ERA and has pitched in 64 and 1/3 innings this year.

Louisville is in postseason form and playing with a ton of momentum right now. Going 3-0 in the regional with almost a week off to prepare will give the squad the time it needs to take Game 1 of the series. Louisville 8, Miami 4.

Game 1 of the NCAA Super Regional round between U of L and UM has been delayed from 3 p.m. to 3:36 p.m. due to inclement weather. Gates will reopen for fans at 2:56 p.m.

• Date: Friday, June 6
• Time: 3 p.m. ET  
• Where: Jim Patterson Stadium

Here is the latest college baseball schedule and NCAA Tournament bracket update.

Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.