No. 1/2 Softball opens its season on Thursday

Thursday, February 5

Lake Charles, LA

6:00 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

McNeese St.

No. 1/2 Softball opens its season on Thursday

February 03, 2026 | Softball

Game Notes Single-Game Tickets Roster Page Schedule Page Media Availability

The Red Raiders will open the 2026 campaign against McNeese

By: Jay Strader

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech softball will begin its highly anticipated 2026 season against McNeese State on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The No. 1/2 Red Raiders will then face North Texas and ULM on Friday at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. respectively before busing it to College Station to take on No. 11 Texas A&M at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday followed by a 7 p.m. game against Providence. Tech will then close its road trip against Bryant on Sunday at noon.

Texas Tech opens the season with its highest ranking in program history after returning a core group – including Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady – from their historic run last season and adding the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country.

Roster Report:
Glasco and company have brought in an influx of talent via the transfer portal. Mia Williams, Taylor Pannell, Kaitlyn Terry, Jackie Lis, Jasmyn Burns, Lagi Quiroga and Desirae Spearman were all either the best player on their previous team or at least one of the key members of that team. The challenge that Glasco and his staff has is finding who play where and when as they have a ton of options.

Williams, Pannell and Terry all played in the WCWS last season while Burns and Quiroga played in the NCAA Regionals. Along with postseason experience, the newcomers add a lot of power to Glasco's lineup as the seven athletes combined to hit 105 home runs last season. The Red Raiders finished with 60 long balls last season and had only one player finish with double digits in that category.

Mia Williams finished the 2025 season with 19 home runs and was a 2025 NFCA Second Team All-American as well as All-SEC Second Team and NFCA All-Gulf Region First Team honoree. She hit .335 with 44 RBI, recording 18 multi-hit games and was in on 18 double plays from the second base position.

Taylor Pannell spent time at third base and outfield while in Knoxville, slashing .351/.632/.425 over 124 games. Her power took a big leap this past season, hitting 13 doubles and 16 home runs which doubled her total from her freshman campaign. She was also named to the NFCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team and a 2025 CSC Academic All-American, NFCA Second Team All-American and All-SEC First Team honoree.

Jasmyn Burns slashed .455/1.006/.540 this past season with 25 home runs and 72 RBI on her way to being named an NFCA First Team All-American, NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team member and All-Big Ten First Team member. Burns was also named to the Big Ten All-Freshmen Team and the NFCA All-Midwest Region Third Team in her freshman year.

Kaitlyn Terry recorded her second straight 20-win season with the Bruins, going 20-5 with a 2.64 ERA and striking out 172 batters while walking just 34. The lefty helped UCLA to a 2025 WCWS appearance as she was named to the NFCA All-West Region Third Team. Her freshman season, Terry was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year as she posted a 21-3 record with a 2.38 ERA and 161 strikeouts.

Jackie Lis was a three-time All-MVC First Team selection and was named the MVC Player of the Year in 2024. The rising senior has played and started in 164 games and has hit .340 or better in all three seasons and post double-digit home runs in those years. For her career she is slashing an impressive .353/.690/.457 with 141 RBI and 95 walks to go along with her home run numbers. Lis was also a two-time NFCA All-Region selection and a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete.

Desirae Spearman was named the 2024 CUSA Freshman and Player of the Year and is a two-time All-CUSA First Teamer and holds a 3.38 career ERA with 193 strikeouts while also slashing .398/.921/.540 with 38 home runs and 90 RBI for her career. Her .430 batting average this past season set a program record and her .606 on-base percentage and .977 slugging percentage were both ranked fifth in the country.

Lagi Quiroga slashed .346/.631/.443 with 12 home runs, 13 doubles and 44 RBI. She started all 58 games for the Golden Bears and collected 62 hits. Although she played catcher, Quiroga is a versatile defender able to play in several positions over the course of the season. She has amassed 109 hits, 20 doubles, 28 home runs and 75 RBI over her two-year career. Her freshman season she was named to the All-PAC 12 Freshmen Team, NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team and the Softball America Freshmen All-American team.

You can't mention Texas Tech Softball without talking about the obvious: NiJaree Canady. Canady was named the NFCA Pitcher of the Year and the Honda Sport Award winner for Softball in back-to-back seasons. Canady led the team with 11 home runs and finished 2025 with 34 wins, which led the country. Tech welcomes back some other key pieces from its historic 2025 team as well.

Mihyia Davis etched her name in the Texas Tech record book finished with a .389 batting average (7th best in a single season) and set a new school record for at bats (239), hits (93) and runs (66) while also coming second in triples (6), third in total bases (131), third in stolen bases (27) and had a 14-game hitting streak which is tied for fourth longest.

Hailey Toney was phenomenal at the shortstop position, having just one error from March 7 to June 6. Toney also hit .323 with 63 hits, 14 doubles and seven homers. Toney was great in the WCWS recording a clutch home run against UCLA and a big double against Oklahoma to set up the winning RBI.

Lauren Allred led the team in RBI last season with 54 as she hit .363 with nine home runs, 10 doubles and also had the game-winning sacrifice fly to beat Oklahoma in the WCWS and advance to the championship series.

Alana Johnson was arguably the team's best player in the fall according to Glasco and was stellar in the postseason. She hit .310 with nine home runs and 46 RBI last season but really shined in the postseason where she hit .462 as the team fed off her as they were 13-0 when she had multiple hits last year.

Victoria Valdez started almost every game as the catcher for the Red Raiders last season and although the offense numbers dipped a bit because of her usage behind the plate, she remained one of the best defensive catchers in the country, throwing out 13 runners on 17 attempted stolen bases.

Samantha Lincoln didn't see a ton of action in her freshman campaign in the circle but tossed a perfect game and had an 8-3 record with a 3.50 ERA in 72.0 innings of work including 3.0 no-hit innings against Texas in game three of the championship series.

Chloe Riassetto was the number two arm last season, finishing with an 8-3 record and a 2.48 ERA in 98.2 innings.

Game Info:
The games against McNeese State (ESPN+) and Texas A&M (SEC Network) will be streamed live. Every game will have a live stat link and fans can get live updates by following TexasTechSB on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.