Texas Tech University Athletics
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No. 11 Tech, No. 1 Alabama set for WCWS Semifinals matchup
June 01, 2026 | Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY – Alive and well at the Women's College World Series, No. 11 Texas Tech is focused on winning two games tonight against No. 1 Alabama to continue advancing and reach the WCWS Finals for the second consecutive season. The Red Raiders (59-8) staved off elimination with an 8-7 nine-inning win over No. 8 UCLA on Sunday night and now need to take down the Crimson Tide (56-7) in the first game at 6 p.m. tonight to force an if-necessary game 30 minutes after at Devon Park. Â
Tech is 2-1 in the WCWS after opening with an 8-0 run-rule win over Mississippi State last Thursday, a 2-1 nine-inning loss to No. 7 Tennessee on Saturday and the 8-7 extra-inning victory over UCLA last night. The top-seeded Crimson Tide are unbeaten in the WCWS with a 6-3 win over UCLA on Thursday and then a 5-1 victory over Nebraska on Saturday. The Crimson Tide earned an off-day on Sunday with the pair of wins and are currently on a seven-game winning streak coming into the matchup against the Red Raiders after sweeping through the Tuscaloosa Regional and Super Regional. Texas Tech is 1-3 all-time against Alabama with the last matchups coming in 2017.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Texas and No. 7 Tennessee are currently playing with the Lady Volunteers needing only one win to reach the WCWS Finals and the Longhorns needing two wins. The WCWS Finals begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Devon Park.
Tech is coming off an 8-7 win in nine innings over UCLA where it had 14 hits, led by Mia Williams who went 3-for-5 including her team-leading 25th home run of the season and Mihyia Davis going 3-for-6 to take her season total to 98 hits. NiJaree Canady started and earned the win in a game where she threw 4 innings and Kaitlyn Terry threw 5 innings. The Red Raiders implemented six pitching changes throughout the game, going back-and-forth between Canady and Terry with the pair of all-America aces both recording seven strikeouts each. The final strikeout of the 14-strikeout game for the pair came with Canady getting a called strikeout to end the game and send the Red Raiders to the semifinals. Terry delivered an RBI double in the top of the ninth to score Taylor Pannell who had led off the inning for a 7-6 lead before a fielding error off the bat of Davis padded the advantage and proved to be the game-winning run. Â Â Â
Through three games at the WCWS, Williams leads the Red Raiders by hitting .556 with two doubles and a home run while Davis is hitting .538 with a team-high seven hits. Lauren Allred has three RBI and three hits and Lis tops the team with four RBI that includes a two-run home run in the first inning against Mississippi State last Thursday in the opener. Canady has recorded wins over UCLA and Mississippi State and has recorded 13 strikeouts through 11 2/3 innings in OKC while Terry has 11 strikeouts and allowed only three runs in 10 1/3 innings.
The Red Raiders lead the nation with 654 total hits this season, second with a .380 batting average and rank third with 139 home runs after their 14-hit, two home run performance against UCLA. The team also ranks second with 628 total runs and has recorded a national-leading 37 run-rule victories this season. Tech is led by a program-record four NFCA All-Americans in Terry, Canady, Williams and Jackie Lis while Davis also earned all-America honors from D1Softball and Softball America. Williams leads the Red Raiders with 25 home runs, 24 doubles and 84 RBI following the game against UCLA with three hits including the home run while Lis has hit 21 home runs and has 75 RBI after hitting a two-run shot in the first inning in the win over Mississippi State in the team's WCWS opener. Williams comes into tonight's game ranking second nationally in doubles, third in runs scored (91), seventh in the RBI category (84) and ninth with her 25 home runs. Davis tops Tech and is now third nationally with 98 hits after her three-hit performance against UCLA and also leads the Red Raiders with 37 stolen bases (sixth nationally). At the plate, Terry is hitting a team-best .448 and has 16 doubles after her ninth-inning double against UCLA while also having 10 home runs and 57 RBI coming into tonight's game. The Red Raiders have hit a program-record and the third most in the country with 139 home runs this season and features a lineup with eight players hitting 10 or more, including Jasmyn Burns (18), Desirae Spearman (13), Taylor Pannell (12), Lagi Quiroga (12) and Allred (10). Allred is coming off a game against UCLA where she had two RBI while shortstop Hailey Toney had two hits and scored a run.
Canady (27-6) earned the wins against UCLA and Mississippi State in OKC and is now 102-23 in her career with 1,113 strikeouts, including striking out three Lady Volunteers on Saturday in 3 2/3 innings of relief (no decision) where she allowed one run and two hits. Canady is a three-time consensus all-America and has played in the WCWS four straight seasons. She comes into tonight's game with 239 strikeouts and a 1.91 ERA through 42 appearances (29 starts) this season. Terry (24-2) played her first two seasons at UCLA where she went 41-8 and recorded 333 strikeouts and a 2.50 ERA in 73 pitching appearances (50 starts). This season with Tech, Terry owns a 1.71 ERA and has recorded 169 strikeouts through 143 2/3 innings of work – taking her career strikeout total to 502. Terry and Canady both rank in the top-10 nationally this season in victories and top-15 in ERA.
Alabama is playing in its program eighth WCWS semifinals and currently leads the nation with 24 shutouts this season and is second with a 1.50 pitching staff ERA and 4.22 hits allowed per seven innings. Offensively, the Crimson Tide have hit 100 home runs which ranks ninth most and are scoring 6.38 runs per game. Brooke Wells leads Alabama with 24 home runs while Alexis Pupillo has hit 20 and Ana Roman has 12. Briski, Wells and Pupillo each earned NFCA All-America along with multiple other national and conference selections. Briski (25-3) was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year and comes into the WCWS semifinals against Tech with a 24-3 record and 1.35 ERA after allowing just one hit and throwing a complete-game in the win over Nebraska on Saturday. She has 213 strikeouts which ranks 15th most nationally and has a 10.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Pupillo leads the team with a .391 batting average, 72 hits and has 62 RBI this season while Welles is hitting .379 and tops the team with 68 RBI – including hitting a home run and driving in three against UCLA in the team's first WCWS game. Marlie Giles hit a three-run home run in the first inning against the Cornhuskers on Saturday after Pupillo hit a two-run shot and Wells a three-run homer in their opener against UCLA. Briski has thrown two complete-game victories in OKC and has allowed only seven hits and four runs.
The surviving team from tonight's matchup between Texas Tech and Alabama will advance to the WCWS Finals which begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in a double-elimination format. Tech advanced to the 2025 WCWS Finals but finished as the runner-up to Texas which won the national championship in three games.
