No matter what jersey she’s wearing, Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady has become a familiar foe for the Oklahoma Sooners at the Women’s College World Series, and the 2026 NCAA Softball Championship has the newfound rivals destined for one last date that fans can’t wait for.
Both teams still have to get through a Regional and Super Regional, but if OU and Texas Tech both survive that far, they will immediately meet in the first round of the WCWS in a few weeks in Oklahoma City, with Canady certainly in the circle for the Red Raiders to take on one of the most potent lineups in history and create a matchup that will thrill every college softball fan.
NiJaree Canady vs the Sooners’ powerful lineup would add to this newfound WCWS rivalry
The Sooners got the No. 3 overall seed and won’t leave the state of Oklahoma the rest of the way with a Regional and Super Regional in Norman. As the No. 11 seed, Texas Tech will host a Regional in Lubbock, but will likely have to travel to Florida and knock off the No. 6 Gators to return to the WCWS. Despite being the underdog based on seeding, it’s hard to doubt Canady to will her team to OKC.
The Sooners and Canady go way back to 2023, when she was just a freshman at Stanford and powered the Cardinal to the WCWS basically single-handedly. She needed more help, though, to get past the Sooners as they handed Canady both losses to eliminate Stanford from the WCWS…