STANFORD – Stanford will begin its Women’s College World Series against the No. 1 seed for the second straight year.
But while the eighth-seeded Cardinal will be the underdogs against Texas on Thursday, it will have arguably the best pitcher in the country playing at the top of her game.
Sophomore NiJaree Canady pitched a two-hitter in Stanford’s 3-0 win against No. 9 LSU on Saturday, and followed that up with a three-hitter against the Tigers on Sunday as the Cardinal won 8-0 in six innings to advance out of the Stanford Super Regional.
It is the first time in school history that Stanford will make back-to-back trips to Oklahoma City. The Cardinal made the national semifinals last season, before losing to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Oklahoma for a second time.
“I remember (former Stanford player and current ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne) last year said it’s hard to get back, and I remember when she said that, I brushed it off,” Canady said. “I said, ‘Ok, we’ll get back.’ But she’s right, it’s hard. Last year I didn’t take it in as much as I should have, it being your first year, you just expect that this is normal. But looking back on it, only eight teams make the World Series, and this time around I’m going to try and cherish it because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — or twice.”
It’s no coincidence that Stanford’s first consecutive appearances in the WCWS came after Canady arrived from Kansas. Canady (23-5) leads the NCAA in ERA (0.65), has 310 strikeouts to 37 walks and has allowed just 99 hits in 204.2 innings.
The 13 shutout innings by Canady in the two elimination games came after she allowed a career-worst six runs in four innings in the opening game of the best-of-three super regional on Friday.
“I am so incredibly proud of this group of women,” Stanford coach Jessica Allister said. “To come back during regionals, and to come back after a tough first day, it takes so much grit, so much tenacity. I think it speaks to the strength of our team, and obviously NiJa put together an unbelievable weekend.”
The only other two WCWS appearances in school history came in 2001 and 2004, when Allister was the Cardinal’s starting catcher.
“I went my freshman year and had the same thought (as Canady), ‘This is how it goes,’ and I didn’t get back until my senior year,” Allister said. “I know how hard it is to get to Oklahoma City and there are so many good teams and margins are so small, you have to play good ball at the right moments, have to get some breaks. It’s wonderful because you get to see these young women live their dreams.”
While last year’s team went undefeated in the regionals and super regionals, this season Stanford needed to win three elimination games to advance to the WCWS, an experience that Allison hopes will make the team more prepared this week.
“Last season almost felt easy,” Allison said. “And this year was different. This is how you win it all, because you have all of this in your back pocket, and when you go through these things and you gain confidence, you’re a different team when you come out on the other side. It’s great to be able to perform in those situations and for that belief to just grow.”
In Sunday’s winner-take-all game, the game was scoreless in the fifth inning when Kyra Chen caught a fly ball in left field and threw out an LSU runner tagging from third.
The Cardinal then exploded for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. River Mahler led off with a triple and scored on a grounder to put Stanford in front. The Cardinal had two runners thrown out at the plate in the inning, but RBI singles by Ava Gall, Aly Kaneshiro and Caelen Koch stretched the lead and chased LSU starter Sydney Berzon.
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Freshman Jade Berry hit a three-run homer on the first pitch from reliever Raelin Chaffin to make it 7-0, and Kaitlyn Lim ended the game with a leadoff homer in the sixth inning.
The lineup’s power is a reason that Stanford (48-15) could advance farther in the WCWS this season after scoring just five runs in four WCWS games in 2023.
While last year’s team hit 26 home runs, this year’s team already has 54, and four players have at least seven.
Three-time defending champion Oklahoma is also on the other side of the bracket this time, though No. 1 Texas will be a formidable first opponent when the teams face off at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. The other two teams on Stanford’s side are No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Oklahoma State.
“Bring (Texas) on, I don’t care,” Allister said. “They’re good. Everybody there is good. When you get into the postseason, everybody you play is good. They’ll be ready for us, we’ll be ready for them.”
College World Series schedule (all times Pacific)
Thursday, May 30
Game 1: (14) Alabama vs. (6) UCLA | 9 a.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 2: (10) Duke vs. (2) Oklahoma | 10:30 a.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 3: (8) Stanford vs. (1) Texas | 3 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 4: (5) Oklahoma State vs. (4) Florida | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Friday, May 31
Game 5: TBD vs. TBD | 3 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo)
Game 6: TBD vs. TBD | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo)
Saturday, June 1
Game 7: TBD vs. TBD | 11 a.m. | ABC (Fubo)
Game 8: TBD vs. TBD | 3 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Sunday, June 2
Game 9: TBD vs. TBD | 11 a.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 10: TBD vs. TBD | 3 p.m. | ESPNU (Fubo)
Monday, June 3
Game 11: TBD vs. TBD | 8 a.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 12*: TBD vs. TBD | 10:30 a.m. | ESPN (Fubo)
Game 13: TBD vs. TBD | 3 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo)
Game 14*: TBD vs. TBD | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN2 (Fubo)
* If necessary
WCWS finals schedule
Wednesday, June 5
Game 1: TBD vs. TBD | 4 p.m | ESPN (Fubo)
Thursday, June 6
Game 2: TBD vs. TBD | 4 p.m | ESPN (Fubo)
Friday, June 7
Game 3*: TBD vs. TBD | 4 p.m | ESPN (Fubo)
* If necessary
