Diamond Debrief: Pannell & Canady Shine in Double Dub Day for Texas Tech
Day three of the Mary Nutter Classic brought with it a double dub day for No. 2 Texas Tech who took care of a giant hunter Cal State Fullerton 6-3 followed by a controlled 5-0 win over San Diego State. Both wins moved the Red Raiders to 15-1 on the season ahead of their final game of the tournament tomorrow vs. UC Riverside at 11 am CT.
Where it Shifted
Game one vs. Cal State Fullerton: Texas Tech grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second on a little small ball fun but it was the third inning where the game really got going. In the top half the Red Raiders put up a three spot behind a three-run bomb from Taylor Pannell to take a 4-1 lead. A Cal State Fullerton squad that took No. 4 Oklahoma to extra innings and beat No. 16 Oregon on previous days in this tournament however was unfazed and fought back to score three of their own in the bottom half. Kaitlyn Terry was in the circle and as she always seems to do daWg’d up to lock the down from there with back-to-back strikeouts. Tech would go on to add a couple of insurance runs and win by a final of 6-3.
Game two vs. San Diego State: Like a lot of Texas Tech games this year, this one was never really in question as the Red Raiders got two runs in the second and third innings. It was a scoring card bingo type of day to get there with runs coming off a Desirae Spearman single, squeeze play infield bunt, sac-fly to second (yes lol) and a wild pitch. Whatever it takes. A four run lead was more than NiJaree Canady needed in the circle as she was pitching like she had plans all day and despite a tiny zone by the umpire she struck out 11 and allowed only two base runners all game.
In the Circle
- Game one vs. Fresno State:
- Kaitlynn Terry: 4 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (5-0)
- NiJaree Canady: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 3 K
- Game two vs. Bethune-Cookman
- NiJaree Canady: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 11 K, W (6-1)
- Chloe Riassetto: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
At the Plate
- Game one vs. Fresno State
- Taylor Pannell: 2-4, 1 R, 5 RBI, HR, SB
- Mihyia Davis: 1-3, 3 R, BB, 3 SB
- Lauren Allred: 1-3, RBI, SF
- Game two vs. San Diego State
- Desirae Spearman: 2-3, R, 2B, RBI
- Mihyia Davis: 2-4, RBI, 2 SB
- Kaitlyn Terry: 1-2, RBI, BB
That Stat
Eleven. NiJaree Canady has been ramping up to start the season after sitting out much of the fall but she looked near vintage Canady in this one notching a season high 11 strikeouts in her six innings of work versus San Diego State. This was just three strikeouts shy of her career high in a Texas Tech uniform that came last season in her no-hitter versus Kansas. She allowed only a single hit in this one.
That Was Fun
In game two of the day versus San Diego State Texas Tech showed off their “we are ball players” lineup with two-way players NiJaree Canady, Desirae Spearman and Kaitlyn Terry all hitting in order together. They helped combine for the games first two runs of the game in the second inning: Canady single, Spearman RBI single, Terry RBI bunt (squeeze play) single and it was 2-0 Texas Tech. ATHLETES!
What’s Next: Texas Tech vs. Cal State Fullerton & San Diego State 2/21
Texas Tech finishes their Mary Nutter Classic with UC Riverside at 11:30 am CT on Sunday, a 9:30 local time game. They will look to get the bats working early and cap off a perfect 5-0 trip to California hoping to return to Lubbock 16-1 ahead of their first home games of the season at Rocky Johnson next weekend.
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