OKLAHOMA CITY — While the Women’s College World Series championship series is a rematch for the first time in its current bracket format, there’s no way to really put last year’s result between Texas Tech softball and Texas into the conversation.
This is an entirely new situation for both the Red Raiders and the Longhorns. The biggest piece to meeting up again is Texas Tech’s pitching setup. Last year, NiJaree Canady was asked to carry all of the load in the circle until she just ran out of gas. Texas Tech came within inches of sweeping the Longhorns before Canady had nothing left to give in the third game of the series.
“That’s something we took advantage of for sure was the ability to wear them down,” Texas head coach Mike White said. “That’s not going to happen this year, I don’t think. It seems like temperature is going to cool down as well, which should help everything in night games. So the wearing down won’t be too much of a factor.”
In addition to Canady, who showed the good stuff in the semifinal-clinching win over Alabama, the Longhorns also have to account for Kaitlyn Terry, who has been just as good, if not better, than Canady throughout the majority of the season.
“Just knowing the ball’s coming in from different sides,” Texas first baseman Katie Stewart said. “Obviously Kaitlyn Terry is a lefty, so just being able to make the adjustments when they do make those switches.
“Really it’s more just focusing on what we can control, being able to adjust pitcher to pitcher, inning to inning. So just staying within ourselves and knowing what we have to do and what our job is.”
Texas Tech and Texas each had to go the full three games in their Super Regionals to get to the WCWS, then had to win twice in the semifinals to punch their return tickets to the national championship series. White said resiliency has been evident in both teams as they try to outdo each other in another best-of-three series.
“We’re going to have to mix it up again,” Texas pitcher Teagan Kavan said of Tech’s revamped offensive lineup. “I’m sure we’ll use multiple arms. I’m excited to just go compete. It’s going to be a fun matchup. It’s going to be fun softball. I’m just really excited to go compete against a really, really good offense and a really good team.”
Texas Tech softball vs Texas in Women’s College World Series championship: Players to watch
Texas Tech softball’s Jackie Lis
Jackie Lis made herself right at home in the first WCWS game of her career, hitting a two-run home run in her first plate appearance and adding an RBI single later against Mississippi State. Since then, Lis is just 1-for-10 at the plate with five walks and four strikeouts. Lis’ bat has been key for Texas Tech all season and she’ll need to come through against the Longhorns.
Texas’ Teagan Kavan
In back-to-back postseasons, Teagan Kavan has been able to flip a switch, going from a really good pitcher to an exceptional pitcher, shutting down a variety of high-octane offenses and delivering in clutch situations. She did that when a strikeout to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the first semifinal against Tennessee then mowed the Lady Vols down to get the Longhorns to the title series. What does Kavan have in store for an encore?
Series prediction for Texas Tech softball vs Texas in national championship
Texas Tech wins series 2-1: Getting to this point has not been as easy as many thought it’d be for the Red Raiders, but they’ve overcome so many highs and lows throughout their postseason run that nothing can surprise them anymore. They’ve got the lineup to be able to handle Kavan and the pitching tandem of Canady and Terry to use however they need to. Texas Tech gets the revenge, but needs all three games to do it.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech softball vs Texas in WCWS finals | Scouting report, series prediction
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
