Red Raiders heading to WCWS Championship Series

Monday, June 2

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

6:00 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

53-12

Oklahoma

52-9

OKLAHOMA

TEXAS TECH

Red Raiders heading to WCWS Championship Series

June 02, 2025 | Softball

Box Score Highlights Postgame Press Conference Postgame Quotes Photo Gallery WCWS Bracket WCWS Tickets

Texas Tech will face Texas in a best-of-three series beginning Wednesday after a 3-2 victory over Oklahoma

By: Texas Tech Athletics Communications

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – This season has been one of numerous "firsts" for the Texas Tech softball program. On Wednesday, the Red Raiders will add another one as Texas Tech will play for its first softball national championship in history.

The Red Raiders, backed by another dominant pitching performance from NiJaree Canady and a Lauren Allred walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh, topped Oklahoma, 3-2, Monday evening to advance to the Women's College World Series championship series where Texas Tech will face longtime rival Texas in a best-of-three series beginning Wednesday night at Devon Park.

Texas Tech has performed as if it's a WCWS regular since its arrival as the Red Raiders downed another new face to Oklahoma City in Ole Miss in the opener followed by Saturday's 3-1 victory over UCLA, one of the most storied programs in college softball. The victory over Oklahoma ended the Sooners' quest to repeat as national champions for a fifth-consecutive season at a stadium just 20 miles from its campus in Norman.

That's been the attitude of this Texas Tech program, though, especially under head coach Gerry Glasco, who expected to win from the moment he took the job a year ago this month. Glasco has pushed all the right buttons in the postseason as Texas Tech will enter the championship series riding a 12-game winning streak that dates back to its regular-season finale at BYU.

"The younger kids, the juniors, sophomore, freshmen, they've got a chance to do it again next year. But the seniors, this is our chance," Glasco said. "It's been our motto all year our chance forever. We can leave a legacy at Texas Tech that would be remembered forever in the minds of the people that are able to watch this ballclub. I think that we've done that. I think our team, they've left a legacy that will be remembered forever among sports fans that have been able to watch us this year."

That winning streak includes a 6-0 record at Devon Park, which was also the site for the Big 12 Tournament in early May. The Red Raiders are outscoring their opponents, 33-3, in those six wins with the Sooners (52-9) being the only team to score multiple runs on Canady and Texas Tech's pitching staff.

Even then, the Sooners weren't able to get to Canady until the final moments as Oklahoma tied the game on a two-out, two-run home run from Abigale Dayton in the top half of the seventh. The home run briefly disrupted another strong outing for Canady, who responded with her eighth and final strikeout to bring the Red Raiders to the plate for the bottom of the inning.

The Red Raiders responded with a one-out single from Mihyia Davis followed by an opposite-field double from Hailey Toney, who nearly walked it off on her own on a liner that bounced off the top of the wall and into left field. That set up Allred, who sent the first pitch she saw to shallow right field, giving the speedy Davis just enough time to slide home for the game-winning run.

"Going up to my at-bat, Coach Hunter (Veach) always says doing something really hard really well is really fun," Allred said of her approach entering the final plate appearance. "It reminded me to have fun and just go up there with confidence and trust in all the preparation and training that I had. And I knew Mihyia Davis was probably one of the fastest players in the country, would make something happen as long as I got the ball in play."

Texas Tech previously wasted little time in getting to Oklahoma starter Sam Landry, a standout pitcher for Glasco the past three seasons at Louisiana before transferring to join the Sooners this offseason. Demi Elder connected on an RBI triple down the right field line to score Alana Johnson to kick off a two-run second, which was followed by a two-out Bailey Lindemuth RBI single to center moments later.

The two-run cushion appeared more than enough for Canady (33-5) as the Sooners were unable to string multiple hits together against the National Pitcher of the Year until a one-out single from Sydney Barker in the seventh followed by Dayton's two-run blast to right center on an 0-2 pitch. Barker was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night, totaling three of Oklahoma's five hits on the night against Canady.

The pitching performance matched expectations coming into the WCWS semifinals, pitting two of the nation's best in Canady and Landry against each other. Landry (25-6) took a rare loss in a battle of two of softball's top pitches as she gave up all three runs off six hits and six strikeouts in a complete-game performance of her own.

"I think it just speaks volumes, not only about what kind of a great pitcher NiJa Canady is, she's obviously a great pitcher, but her leadership," Glasco said of his star pitcher taking the Red Raiders to two wins from a national title. "Her leadership here has been unbelievable."

The best-of-three championship series between the Red Raiders and Texas begins with a 7 p.m. first pitch Wednesday night on ESPN. Game times will stay the same for Thursday's second game as well as Friday's "if necessary" game.