OKLAHOMA CITY – There’s a reason why Nijaree Canady is perhaps the biggest superstar the college softball world has seen.
Mississippi State first learned about Canady in 2024 when they faced her at Stanford, a year before Canady’s million-dollar contract brought her to Texas Tech and the national spotlight. MSU was reminded of her prowess last season, facing her three times in 2025. On Thursday, the Bulldogs were reminded yet again, this time on softball’s biggest stage.
When she’s on, Canady controls the game from the circle. The senior pitcher shut down any hopes of another MSU upset in Game 1 of the WCWS, holding the Bulldogs to just two hits in an outing that sucked the life out of an offense that came in rolling.
“She’s just a great pitcher,” freshman Kinley Keller said. “We came in with a plan, (that) we’re going to get on top of the ball and we’re gonna attack her first pitch, and I think we kind of waited on that until the third inning.”
Keller is right. It felt like MSU finally had something going in the fourth inning. Hitters were more aggressive against Canady, and two baserunners and some hard-hit outs injected hope into the lifeless fan section that sat behind the MSU dugout.
It was enough for Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glassco to pull Canady after four innings, and put in the Red Raiders’ other star pitcher, Kaitlyn Terry, to finish the job.
Terry was another elite arm MSU had to adjust to, this time with a four-run deficit and just three innings (which ended up being just one after Tech run-ruled the Bulldogs in the fifth) to figure her out. Terry put out State in order. A dejected MSU crowd sat back down.
The Bulldogs did the one thing they couldn’t afford to do when facing an arm like Canady’s: They let her get comfortable early.
Sophomore leadoff hitter Morgan Stiles saw only one pitch in the game’s first at-bat, grounding out to second. Senior Nadia Barbary stepped up to the plate and struck out on five pitches. Sophomore Xiane Romero got in the box and struck out looking in a three-pitch at-bat.
In just nine pitches, the bats were in the hands of the nation’s third-best scoring offense, and Canady was leaving the field energized, pumping her fist and stomping her feet as she walked off celebrating, fully in control.
After a Tech two-run home run in the bottom of the inning, Canady strolled out to the circle with what felt like an insurmountable cushion. Canady left the game after throwing only 47 pitches. Her highest pitch count – just 16 – came in her last inning of work.
“I think they punched first, and it really allowed her to settle in early,” Stiles said. “We just kind of let the nerves get the best of us.”
Once State settled into its gameplan it finally looked like the offense fans saw in the wins against Oklahoma in the Norman Super Regional. For MSU to survive against Texas or Tennessee, it will have to find its footing much earlier.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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