Folks, this Texas Tech softball team might just be really, really good. Like, truly, really good. In case you didn't already know it, yesterday's win in the Women's College World Series should help make that pretty obvious.
Against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Thursday, Gerry Glasco and the Red Raiders managed to run away with an easy, dominant 8-0 run-rule victory.
That helps set the tone for Texas Tech here at the Women’s College World Series. The Red Raiders are here to compete for and win a national title. That’s abundantly clear. And with the way they looked in Game 1 against a really impressive Mississippi State team that was able to beat Oklahoma twice in three games, it sure seems like this Texas Tech team can win it all this year.
Jackie Lis is one of the most unstoppable hitters in the country and it’s great the she’s a Red Raider
Let’s celebrate Jackie Lis, shall we? The Red Raiders have really benefitted from having her on their roster. She’s been such a good addition to this Texas Tech softball team and sometimes I wonder if she gets a little overlooked on this roster that is loaded with stars.
Which is weird, because Lis has 21 home runs on the season and is hitting with a .444 batting average. The senior who transferred from Southern Illinois has proven to be one of the most dominant hitters on Texas Tech’s roster and she is absolutely crushing folks. With a .944 slugging percentage, you can’t exactly pitch to her without worrying about something bad happening.
Which is what happened to Mississippi State. With Mia Williams on base after getting hit by a pitch, Lis hammered a first-inning home run to put two on the board against Alyssa Faircloth.
It was very refreshing to see Texas Tech’s pitching take over a game without any issues
Given the sort of pitching issues that the Red Raiders had against the Florida Gators and at times against the Ole Miss Rebels, I’m really relieved to see that NiJaree Canady looked like one of the most dominant pitchers in the country when facing off against Mississippi State.
Canady didn’t strike a ton of batters out. Just three strikeouts through 4.0 innings pitched. But still, Mississippi State wasn’t able to string together any hits against the Red Raiders. Just two hits in the game. All Canady had to throw was 47 pitches. She should be really refreshed going into Texas Tech’s matchup against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers.
And we can’t ignore Kaitlyn Terry here. She stepped in and got through the fifth inning without any sort of worries, allowing Canady to rest a bit and showing an impressive amount of depth for the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech doing that to Mississippi State is really impressive given their momentum
Let’s not take anything away from the Mississippi State Bulldogs or anything along those lines. What the Red Raiders did in this game shows just how good Texas Tech is. With the sort of momentum that Mississippi State had coming into this game, it’s pretty remarkable that the Red Raiders were able to completely and totally shut them down.
Remember, the Bulldogs just stunned the Oklahoma Sooners in the Super Regionals and kept them from being present in Oklahoma City for the first time in a decade. Yes, Mississippi State is an underdog. Yes, this is MSU’s first trip to the Women’s College World Series. But Alyssa Faircloth is a really dang good pitcher and that team just beat OU 11-9 in Game 1 and then 6-0 in Game 3.
Mississippi State definitely earned their spot in the Women’s College World Series. For the Red Raiders to go out and just run right past the Bulldogs is something worth bragging about. That’s a great win.
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