Texas Tech ace downplays injury ahead of WCWS

OKLAHOMA CITY - Texas Tech prima pitcher Nijaree Canady has been battling a near hamstring wounded since precocious February, her manager confirmed Tuesday, a time earlier the Red Raiders look Texas successful the Women's College World Series best-of-three title series.

Canady, however, downplayed the injury. She said it wouldn't impact her against the Longhorns, and that the archetypal aesculapian results "said it was worse than it was."

Canady, the reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, who propelled the Red Raiders to their archetypal WCWS appearance, has pitched each inning for Texas Tech successful Oklahoma City. She's the archetypal subordinate to propulsion each transportation successful the WCWS for a squad to scope the title bid since UCLA's Rachel Garcia successful 2019, according to ESPN Research.

Canady is 32-5 this twelvemonth with an 0.86 ERA. After leaving Stanford past offseason, she signed an NIL woody worthy much than $1 cardinal to spell to Texas Tech.

But Canady's wounded gave the Red Raiders an aboriginal scare. Texas Tech manager Gerry Glasco said that had the wounded been to Canady's close hamstring, the Red Raiders would've had to "shut her down" for a important magnitude of time.

"We were walking connected pins needles for astir a month," said Glasco, who noted that they eliminated her bullpen sessions during the week and her batting signifier Glasco said they had to scratch her commencement against South Carolina connected March 21 against South Carolina due to the fact that of the hamstring. Canady pitched the pursuing night, though.

"To inactive person the results that she did showed what a tremendous rival and what a tremendous endowment she was," Glasco said.

The Longhorns and Red Raiders are some aiming for their archetypal softball nationalist championship. Texas handed four-time defending champion Oklahoma its archetypal nonaccomplishment successful the WCWS, and the Red Raiders eliminated the Sooners 3-2 successful the last inning Monday night.

The Longhorns doubly defeated Canady and Stanford successful past year's WCWS, with Texas ace Teagan Kavan picking up the victories successful some games to destruct the Cardinal.

Kavan and Canady are acceptable to quadrate disconnected again successful title opener Wednesday night.

"Obviously she's going to clasp offenses disconnected rather a spot and truthful it's ever successful the backmost of your mind," Kavan said. "It's evidently fun, it's a situation and I similar erstwhile it's a pitchers' duel. ... it's conscionable to vie successful this ambiance and against the best."