The season has officially come to an end and it certainly ended in a way that was such a bummer to witness. Gerry Glasco and the Texas Tech Red Raiders softball team made the program’s first ever run to Oklahoma City and in the process came up just one game shy of being able to head home to Lubbock with a national title trophy.
And it’s certainly clear that Texas Tech almost certainly would not have been in the position it was without the consistently remarkable performances from NiJaree Canady. While Canady struggled against Texas in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series finals, she was truly incredible in the postseason as a whole for the Red Raiders.
Time and time again, Texas Tech turned to Canady to put the Red Raiders in the best possible position to come out on top of Texas. While Canady had been having routinely incredible performances throughout the postseason, up until Game 3 of the WCWS Finals, things really took a turn against Texas in this game.
And it started early!
Canady really struggled from the get go. And while I have no clue if she’s just worn out or if the Longhorns just figured out how she was pitching, it’s more than evident that UT was able to take advantage of every possible opportunity at the plate in the 1st inning, racking up hits and runs with ease.
Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady throws nearly 900 pitches in Red Raiders’ run through 2025 NCAA softball tournament
I wouldn't fault Canady for being tired and I’d certainly understand if, given how much she pitched, if other teams finally started to figure her out a bit.
And here’s why:
We’re talking about a pretty big number here, folks. Nearly 900 pitches.
We’re talking about, in the span of just a couple weeks, Glasco and the Texas Tech softball program asked quite a bit out of Canady. And while I get that this sport’s pitching motion is much different from baseball’s (and the corresponding wear and tear is notably different as well), that’s still a lot of physical activity.
In the span of just a few weeks, Canady threw nearly 900 pitches against the likes of the Mississippi State Bulldogs (88 and 111), the Florida State Seminoles (79 and 87), Ole Miss (102), UCLA (92), Oklahoma (106), and then Texas (88, 107, and 25).
That’s a lot of pitching. To be precise, it's 885, according to my phone calculator. In the WCWS, it's a grand total of 520 posts. Again, that's a lot of pitching.