OKLAHOMA CITY — Even as a four-year member of the Texas Tech softball team, the longest-tenured Red Raider, Demi Elder, has never tasted success against Texas.
The senior outfielder has spent her entire career at Texas Tech and knows all about the hatred between the Red Raider and Longhorn fan bases. Elder, though, doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on in the debate.
“I don’t think I’ve ever beat Texas, actually,” Elder said Tuesday, “so I think this series is going to be pretty cool because I think this team is a lot different than the other teams I’ve had in the past.”
Elder’s right on multiple accounts. She’s never been part of a victory over the Longhorns — Tech’s last victory came in 2021, before Elder’s arrival in Lubbock — and this Texas Tech team is drastically different from her previous squads.
That’s why this Texas Tech team is facing Texas in the best-of-three finals of the 2025 Women’s College World Series. It’s a position that, a year ago, even a few months ago, seemed improbable for the Red Raiders. But they’re here now, and they’ll try to finish the job starting Wednesday at Devon Park.
The softball team is the third Texas Tech squad in school history to compete in a head-to-head matchup for the national championship. The first two both came on the hardwood, the Lady Raiders winning the 1993 national title and the 2019 men’s basketball team getting to the championship game.
This is unchartered territory for everyone on Texas Tech’s side, but not for the Longhorns, who faced Oklahoma in the finals a year ago.
Regardless of the winner, the national title will be going to the Lone Star State, and somebody will be taking home their first title in program history.
“I think it’s really awesome,” Texas’ Joley Mitchell said. “I’m glad to be part of it just in general, but I do think it’s pretty awesome we’re going to bring a National Championship to the state of Texas no matter who it is. It’s exciting for the sport as well, and I’m happy or both teams to be in it.”
The former Big 12 Conference foes have plenty of history together, much of the success geared toward the Longhorns. Texas leads the all-time series 61-12 and won each of the final 12 contests with Texas Tech. This includes the final four all being decided in rule-rule wins for Texas.
When it comes to the WCWS finals, though, Texas coach Mike White said past history has nothing to do with what will take place on OGE Energy Field over the next couple of days.
“Whatever has happened before has happened,” White said. “All we can do is take our experiences, which we’ve had plenty the last few years, both good and bad, and use those to our advantage to be able to play against one of the best pitchers in the game right now.”
Texas Tech softball’s NiJaree Canady a focus for Texas players, coaches
Going against NiJaree Canady is not unfamiliar territory for the Longhorns. They saw year in last year’s Women’s College World Series, a 4-0 win over Canady’s former Stanford Cardinal team. The Longhorns also hosted Texas Tech earlier this year, playing a pair of games in Austin.
Canady pitched in one of the two games, a 2-1 victory for Texas that went nine innings. Both Canady (eight innings, 11 strikeouts) and Texas’ Teagan Kavan (nine innings, 18 strikeouts) were lights out for their respective teams, and Kavan expects a similar experience in the WCWS finals.
“You can’t ignore that obviously she’s going to hold offenses off quite a bit,” Kavan said. “So it’s always in the back of your mind. I think I just try to take it, and it’s obviously fun. I think it’s a challenge when it’s a pitchers duel. It’s fun to compete in those atmospheres against the best.”
On Texas Tech’s side of things, they’ll try to find a way to generate offense against Kavan.
“I think if we can make her a little bit more uncomfortable this time around,” Alexa Langeliers said, “we’ll be more successful.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Ignore history of Texas Tech, Texas softball rivalry when looking at WCWS championship series
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
