Texas and Texas Tech to meet in Women’s College World Series finalTexas and Texas Tech to meet in Women’s College World Series final
Source: Sara Phipps/The Oklahoman/Imagn Images

The GIST: And then there were two. The best-of-three Women’s College World Series (WCWS) championship series begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET, featuring last year’s runner-up, No. 6 seed Texas, vs. No. 12 Texas Tech, fresh off a stunning upset of the sport’s greatest dynasty. Let’s tee it up.

💪 Red Raiders helmed by $1M woman, pitcher NiJaree Canady: ICYMI, Canady is that girl. The two-way star inked a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal exceeding $1M to transfer to Texas Tech from Stanford last season, and it’s more than paid off — she’s led her squad to their first-ever WCWS, let alone championship series appearance, with her nation-leading 0.90 ERA.

  • The hurler also helped put an end to No. 2 Oklahoma’s quest to five-peat as national champs, stymieing a signature Sooners comeback attempt in Wednesday’s semis. Kansas City Chiefs QB (and Texas Tech alum) Patrick Mahomes is all of us.

🐂 Longhorns hunting revenge behind their depth: Across the diamond, Texas returns to the title series after falling short to Oklahoma last season. Hitting against Canady is quite the challenge, but the Longhorns boast the NCAA’s second-best batting average, plus a 2-0 record against the Red Raiders this season (although both games notably happened in February).

  • And while Texas Tech will almost certainly ride with their, ahem, Lone Star in the circle, Texas counters with a dynamic pitching duo: Teagan Kavan and Mac Morgan have both been stellar, against all odds. Everything’s bigger in Texas Oklahoma City.