How softball explains Texas Tech’s grand ambitions

By adding a million-dollar pitcher, the formerly hapless Red Raiders are one win away from the Women's College World Series. Their big-money moves go far beyond the diamond.

On a balmy spring night near the Florida panhandle, the Texas Tech softball program moved one step closer to history.

Behind a complete-game shutout from pitcher NiJaree Canady and a pair of solo homers, the Red Raiders defeated Florida State in the first game of their best-of-three super regional series in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. With a victory Friday or, if necessary, Saturday, they’ll advance to the Women’s College World Series for the first time ever.

A year ago, such a scenario would have been unimaginable.

Back then, Texas Tech was coming off a 2024 campaign in which it went just 8-16 in Big 12 play and finished eighth in its 10-team conference, another underwhelming season for a program that knew little else. Its future ace was half a country away pitching for a team that was on its way to the final four of the WCWS for the second consecutive season.

What changed? And how did it change so quickly?

The answer to those questions begins with softball, but stretches far beyond it.

How NiJaree Canady ended up at Texas Tech — and made the Red Raiders a powerhouse

Last June, exactly two weeks after her team’s season ended in the WCWS to eventual national runner-up Texas, Canady left Stanford and entered the transfer portal.

The news sent shockwaves through the college softball world and generated the kinds of headlines beyond it that the sport rarely enjoys.

Canady was as bright of a star as the sport had, an overpowering pitcher who had a 0.73 ERA and 337 strikeouts (to just 44 walks) on her way to winning national player of the year honors in 2024. It’s rare that a prominent player from one of the country’s most consistently successful programs this century walks away with two years of eligibility remaining. A player of Canady’s stature and excellence doing so had few, if any, historical comparisons.

One month later, one of the most high-stakes recruitments in college softball history came to an end, with Canady deciding on an unlikely destination – Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders’ softball history was paltry. The school didn’t field a Division I program as recently as 1995 and even once it was restarted, it hadn’t achieved much. From 2002-24, they had finished a season with a winning record in Big 12 play just once. During those 22 years, they went just 120-281 against league opponents, a win percentage of only .299.

Changes were afoot, though, with Canady’s commitment the breakthrough of a concerted, behind-the-scenes effort.