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.
Canady put up a valiant effort, though, in 2-0 and 4-2 losses but couldn't get any run support while going through a loaded lineup that was great enough to win a national title. Then, after two stellar seasons with little to no support at Stanford, Canady entered the Transfer Portal and Texas Tech made her the first $1 million player in college softball.
As a junior with more experience and more talent in her lineup, Canady was then able to avenge her losses to the Sooners at last year's WCWS. She ended OU's 2025 season and streak of four national titles in a row after holding the Sooners to two runs and striking out eight in a complete game in a 3-2 win in the semifinals. Texas Tech then fell short to Texas in the championship series as Canady once again didn't get enough help to finish the job.
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The history alone stirs anticipation for a potential clash between Canady and the Sooners, but it's even more enticing with the head-to-head matchup just based off 2026. Canady enters the NCAA tournament with the No. 6 ERA in the country at 1.25 as Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Year. On the other side, the Sooners have the most daunting lineup she'd face with the best team batting average in college softball at .389 and an NCAA record-breaking 174 home runs.
There's still two weeks of softball before this rivalry would be renewed one last time, but it's impossible not to look ahead in anticipation of such a marquee matchup.
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