The Women's College World Series begins this evening at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.
Texas and Texas Tech are no longer in the same conference following the Longhorns move to the SEC, but the Red Raiders remain a familiar foe. On top of that, Tech's star pitching Nijaree Canady is a face Mike White's squad is seen plenty over the last two seasons.
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In The Circle
Two of the top arms in all of the country will face off this evening – Teagan Kavan for the Horns and Canady for Texas Tech. It doesn't take more than a quick look at the body of work in the Women's College World Series to understand each are playing at their peak at the moment.
Kavan came in relief of Mac Morgan, who Texas will incorporate at some point in this series, against Tennessee to clinch their spot in the WCWS Championship Series.
This exact meeting has occurred already this season – during the Bevo Classic back on February 14.
Texas won that meeting 2–1 in a nine inning affair that saw both Kavan and Canady go the distance in the circle.
Kavan: 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 18 K, 147 pitches
Canady: 8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 11 K, 151 pitches
The game-winning run for the Longhorns came via a fielders' choice that turned into an error which allowed Joley Mitchell to score. For those wondering, that was the second time in as many games that Texas had walked off Canady via error. When Texas faced Stanford, the Longhorns scored the game's lone run via a botched rundown attempt by Stanford. That game sent Texas to the 2024 Championship Series.
Game two between the Red Raiders and Longhorns from this season was one in which Nijaree Canady was absent from the circle.
Texas ended up victorious in that matchup by the score of 11–0 in five innings.
Kavan: 4 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 K, 69 pitches
Gutierrez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 12 pitches
As for Texas Tech, the Longhorns were able to plate two on Samantha Lincoln in the first inning, then plated the remaining nine runs over three innings on Chloe Riassetto, neither of whom have pitched in the Women's College World Series so far.
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One other nugget to add, star catcher Reese Atwood has yet to break out in Oklahoma City. Should her bat heat back up in this series, the Longhorns will be very well positioned to hoist the National Championship.
Atwood so far in the WCWS: 0–8 with 1 RBI and 4 K.
Atwood is now hitting .398 on the season with 21 HR and 86 RBI.