Two-run shot by Ashley Prange (video) gives Alabama a 2-0 lead over UCLA in the top of the first... Single, double, and walk load the bases for UCLA in the bottom half... Frosh Jordan Woolery goes opposite field for grand-slam, putting Bruins on top 4-2... Prange with solo shot for her second homer of the game, but UCLA answers with one, making it 5-3 UCLA... No further scoring, as the Bruins win 5-3. UCLA's Megan Faraimo (complete game, 13 strikeouts) outduels Bama's Montana Fouts (4 2/3 innings, 9 strikeouts) in this battle of star pitchers.
NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.