OKLAHOMA CITY—Conventional wisdom is that a team’s ace would be the starter in a winner-take-all championship game. Instead, Arizona went with the lefty-on-lefty matchup against Texas Tech and Big 12 Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady in the Big 12 Championship title game.
It didn’t work out. The Wildcats fell behind 4-0 in the second and could never make inroads against Canaday, who struck out eight while allowing just two hits and two walks. The score at the end of two still stood when Texas Tech got the final out in the top of the seventh.
“I wanted a shutout today,” said Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco. “I didn’t want one run.”…