Texas Tech's NiJaree Canady Named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year
NiJaree Canady added another major accolade to one of the most dominant pitching careers in college softball history on Wednesday, earning Big 12 Conference Co-Pitcher of the Year honors, as voted on by coaches. She also was named the unanimous USA Today Big 12 Player of the Year as well.
The award marks back-to-back Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors for Texas Tech’s ace and the third consecutive season Canady has earned a conference’s top pitcher of the year award after previously winning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honors at Stanford Cardinal in 2024.
Already established as one of the sport’s premier pitchers before arriving in Lubbock, Canady elevated Texas Tech into national title contention the moment she stepped into the circle last season.
Her addition transformed the Red Raiders from, in the words of head coach Gerry Glasco, “a program to the program” as she helped lead Texas Tech to its first Super Regional championship, first Women’s College World Series appearance and a national runner-up finish in 2025.
Back for one final season in scarlet and black, Canady has once again been one of the most dominant pitchers in the country.
The senior right-hander enters postseason play with a 21-4 record, a 1.39 ERA and 194 strikeouts across 135 innings pitched while holding opponents to a .142 batting average. She sits atop the Big 12 in ERA (1.30), batting average against (.142) and WHIP (.79). She is also sixth in the nation in ERA, third in WHIP and forth in hits allowed per seven innings.
As if all of that wasn’t impressive enough, her regular season ended in historic fashion on Saturday.
Facing Baylor on Senior Day in front of a sold-out crowd and a national ESPN audience, Canady tossed the first perfect game of her collegiate career. She needed only 62 pitches through five innings while striking out nine batters in the run-rule victory.
The perfect game added to her total of 12 complete games this season to go along with three no-hitters and now one perfect game while continuing to anchor one of the nation’s top pitching staffs. Texas Tech enters postseason play fourth nationally in team ERA at 1.70 and remains the only program in the country ranked inside the top five nationally in both batting average and ERA.
Canady was previously named one of 25 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. The list will be narrowed to 10 finalists on May 13 before being cut to three finalists on May 18, with the winner announced prior to the Women’s College World Series later this month.
The two-time NFCA Pitcher of the Year has also continued climbing the sport’s all-time career leaderboards.
Across 723.2 career innings pitched, Canady owns a 0.94 ERA with 1,059 strikeouts and 95 career wins. She is currently one of only two active pitchers in college softball with 1,000 career strikeouts and the only active player with both 95 wins and 1,000 strikeouts.
A senior who is looking to finish her star-studded career with another national championship run, got a glimpse of her pro future when she was selected No. 2 overall in the AUSL Draft by the Texas Volts.
“It was really exciting,” Canady said Tuesday. “Love how much I’ll be able to stay around Red Raider Nation [in Texas] and my family.”
Tech continues their season on Thursday as postseason play begins with the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Red Raiders face off against Baylor at 1:30 PM CT for a spot in the semifinals where they would face the winner of UCF and Kansas on Friday.
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