Texas Tech softball superstar NiJaree Canady is so good at throwing strikes that it cost the Red Raiders their game Wednesday night.
The Red Raiders were just four outs away from securing a victory in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series Final — and Canady was having no issues mowing down Texas’ order as the Longhorns still had a doughnut on the scoreboard in the 1-0 game.
Then came the chaos.
With two runners on, Canady elected to intentionally walk Texas catcher Reese Atwood. But on what was supposed to be ball four, Canady left her pitch out over the plate, and Atwood made her pay for it as she knocked in both baserunners and the Longhorns took the lead.
Texas Tech couldn’t strike back in the top of the final inning, and Texas took Game 1.
The mistake was a rare one for Canady, as she’s widely considered the best pitcher in college softball.
The Kansas native played her first two collegiate seasons at Stanford, where she compiled a 41-10 pitching record and posted just a 0.67 ERA. She racked up 555 strikeouts to just 65 walks.
She won the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award last season, PAC-12 Pitcher of the Year, was a First Team All-American, and a two-time PAC-12 First-Teamer.
Canady then elected to give up the possible Stanford degree and received a whopping $1 million in NIL from Texas Tech to try and take the program out of the 29-21 gutter it was in a year ago.
This season, she led the nation with the only ERA under 1.00 and has guided the Red Raiders to a 59-13 record as they chase their first-ever national title.
She’s certainly accustomed to throwing strikes, which is what may have been her downfall.
Atwood said postgame to ESPN’s Holly Rowe that she noticed Canady’s first pitch of the at-bat was in the zone — from there, she was hunting another to take a crack at.
“I knew I was gonna have to take a risk to do something for my team,” Atwood said.
Atwood was hitless throughout the WCWS prior to the game-winner, making the intentional walk decision and the miscue all the more brutal for Canady and Texas Tech.
The teams return to action Thursday when the Longhorns will have a chance to take the best-of-three series for the championship.