Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady (24) pitches against Saint Mary's during an NCAA softball game on Friday, May 17, 2024 in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Lachlan Cunningham)
By CLIFF BRUNT | AP Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — Stanford is the last team standing in the Pac-12.
NiJaree Canady struck out eight and went the distance as the Cardinal defeated UCLA 3-1 on Sunday night to reach the Women’s College World Series semifinals and eliminate the Bruins.
Stanford won the final game between Pac-12 teams before the league splits up. UCLA will be in the Big Ten next season, while Stanford will join the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Canady said the quality of the final game was fitting.
“I think what made it even more special was it just being a really good game on both sides, just to show again the power that Pac-12 softball has,” she said. “It was really cool for it to be a really good game.”
Canady allowed just three hits and walked none for the eighth-seeded Cardinal (50-16), who reached the semifinals for the second straight year.
“They’re tough,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “NiJaree is tough. They showed up and executed tonight. I wish them well as they represent the last of the Pac.”
Megan Grant’s solo homer was the highlight for No. 6 UCLA (43-12).
UCLA won all three regular-season meetings.
“Our series against UCLA during the regular season, it was kind of a turning point in our season, where we didn’t play the way we wanted to play,” Stanford coach Jessica Allister said. “Felt like we got punched in the gut a little bit. Started to have to crawl our way back from there. I think as far as how the season goes, like that was probably the low point of our season.”
The Cardinal improved to 5-0 in elimination games this season.
Stanford will play No. 1 Texas in the semifinals on Monday. The Cardinal will need to win twice to advance to the best-of-three championship series, while Texas will need just one win to move on.
Canady, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, shut out Oklahoma State on Friday, but hit her leg while delivering a pitch late in the game, making her status uncertain.
She was more than ready. She threw strikes on 71 of her 97 pitches.
“She’s incredibly competitive,” Allister said. “I think that’s a little bit of her superhuman power. I know she feels like she has a lot of them. Maybe the biggest one is she wants to be in those moments. In those moments, she’s not scared. She’s aggressive, assertive and believes that she can do it.”
Grant’s solo shot in the second opened the scoring.
Stanford gave Canady some run support in the third. Taryn Kern’s RBI double tied it, then Kern scored on a single by Ava Gall to put the Cardinal up 2-1.
Stanford got consecutive bunt singles from Emily Jones and Kaitlyn Kim at the bottom of the order to start the fifth. Pinch hitter Allie Clements’ sacrifice fly scored Jones to make it 3-1.
Down to her last strike, UCLA’s Savannah Pola was hit on the hand by a pitch, then Thessa Malau’ulu singled to put two on with two outs. Canady got pinch hitter Ramsey Suarez to ground out.
Now, Stanford turns its focus to Texas.
“They’re good in all three phases of the game,” Allister said. “Can pitch, hit, defend. A big pitching staff with a lot of different looks. They’ve put together a deep, competitive ballclub. There’s a reason they were the overall No. 1 seed. We’re going to have to play good softball tomorrow.”
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
Originally published at Associated Press