The Horns have to get through NiJaree Canady and the Red Raiders one more time to take home their first national championship and it’s going to take an attack mindset on both sides of the ball.
There’s no rest nor wavering for Texas Tech Red Raiders star pitcher NiJaree Canady, who will throw again on Friday night in Oklahoma City in the final game of the Women’s College World Series against the Texas Longhorns.
There’s a national championship on the line and an entire summer to rest her incredible right arm, even after throwing 495 pitches over five games in the Women’s College World Series and nearly allowing comeback by the Longhorns on Thursday, stranding the tying run on third base in the seventh inning despite entering the frame with a 4-1 lead.
There’s not going to be a change in her approach. She won’t try to pitch to contact to keep her pitch count down. She’ll just keep pitching the same way she has in winning 34 games this season over 239 grueling innings.
It’s Texas that needs to make the adjustments to avoid finishing as the runner up for the third time in the last four years after rallying to win the first game 2-1.
Sophomore left fielder Katie Stewart, who has two home runs in the WCWS and four in the postseason, believes that the Horns need to match Canady’s aggressiveness on the mound.
“She’s gonna attack the zone and so just be ready to hunt early and get my pitch, not chase too far out of the zone,” Stewart said after Thursday’s loss. “Be ready to attack, because she’s just gonna come at us — she’s not gonna dance around the zone, so we’ve got to be ready to go from inning one.”
At least publicly, Texas doesn’t believe that the three runs allowed by Canady over the last two innings on Thursday is a sign of fatigue.
“I think she’s just ready to go. She’s going to give it all for her team and she’s not going to back down from this moment,” Stewart said.
Stewart does believe that there is some momentum the Horns can consolidate, but they have to be locked in from the start.
“We showed how badly we want this in our fight in the seventh inning,” Stewart said. “And so just using that momentum that we gained from that inning until tomorrow and starting out early, instead of waiting entirely too long to fight while our backs are against the wall.”
The attack mindset also has to extend to the defensive side of the ball, where Texas committed two errors on the fast field at Devon Park and dealt with some indecision and miscommunication among the infielders, according to Longhorns head coach Mike White, particularly between junior second baseman Kaydee Bennett and senior first baseman Joley Mitchell on the right side, culminating in an error by Mitchell that led to the final two Texas Tech runs.
“I think we got a little defensive in times there, especially late in the game with our defense. We got more on the back foot, instead of being a little more aggressive and making the plays when we need to make the plays,” White said.
White also needs his strategic decision to hold back sophomore right-hander Teagan Kavan in the second game to pay off.
Hoping to take a late lead and use Kavan to seal the game, White stuck with freshman right-handed reliever Cambria Salmon in the crucial fifth inning when Salmon was unable to escape a two-out jam. First she loaded the bases with a five-pitch walk, then hit a batter to force in the go-ahead run, and gave up another run on a wild pitch when junior catcher Reese Atwood couldn’t control a changeup in the dirt.
“Teagan just pitched to three or four batters, so I’m hoping that’s going to play in our favor tomorrow,” White said.
It’s a day with the national championship on the line, and the Longhorns have to go earn it against the best pitcher in the country.
“I’m sure we got some momentum, but if we don’t back it up with a good quality of bats, some quality defense, and some quality pitching, it’s not going to matter. The game will know who’s the better team on the day, and that’s what’s going to really count,” White said.
First pitch is at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN.