NiJaree Canady and Kaitlyn Terry made the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 10, giving Texas Tech two elite stars on the list.
Texas Tech softball keeps stacking up national attention, and now NiJaree Canady and Kaitlyn Terry are both in the middle of the USA Softball Player of the Year race.
USA Softball trimmed its Player of the Year watchlist from 25 players to 10, and the Red Raiders landed two names on the cutdown list. Texas Tech joined UCLA as the only programs with multiple players still in contention, another major marker in what’s already been a historic season in Lubbock.
For Texas Tech, this is the first time two players from the program have made the Top 10 list in the same season. For Canady, it’s familiar territory.
She’s now been named a Top 10 finalist three times in her career.
The honor fits the season. Texas Tech enters NCAA Regional play with a 52-6 record, the best regular-season mark in program history.
The Red Raiders also captured their second straight Big 12 regular-season title and will host a regional in Lubbock for the second consecutive year.
Canady and Terry have powered that run as one of the most dangerous pitching combinations in college softball. Canady ranks sixth nationally with a 1.25 ERA, while Terry sits right behind her at seventh with a 1.30 ERA.
Both pitchers have 22 wins, and they’re also among the nation’s best in WHIP, with Canady third at 0.79 and Terry fourth at 0.81.
Canady has been overpowering in the circle, piling up 209 strikeouts while averaging 10.0 strikeouts per seven innings.
Terry’s case goes beyond pitching. She’s hitting .471, ranking among the top 10 nationally, with 72 hits, 10 home runs and 52 RBI. Earlier this season, she set the Texas Tech record with a 24-game hitting streak.
Now, both Red Raiders have a legitimate shot at one of softball’s biggest individual honors.
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