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2026 WCWS Opening Day

The Women's College World Series is about to get underway, with the first game pitting No. 11 seed Texas Tech vs. unseeded Mississippi State. The Bulldogs shocked No. 3 seed Oklahoma in their super-regional series.

MISSISSIPPI STATE-TEXAS TECH

The Bulldogs, as the visitor, will back first. NiJaree Canady, the star pitcher who has had some struggles lately, in the circle for Texas Tech... After MSU goes quietly in T1, Red Raiders come up to face Alyssa Faircloth in B1. Somewhat surprising pitching choice after Delainey Everett's masterpiece to close out OU... TTU leadoff hitter Mia Williams hit by pitch, after several HBP's in super-regionals vs. Florida... Jackie Lis homers to left, giving Tech an early 2-0 lead... Lis, a transfer from Southern Illinois, having a great tournament... Jasmyn Burns up... K for first out... Another K for second out... Easy bloop back to pitcher ends the inning. T2, leadoff infield single for MSU on slow grounder... Easy pop to SS for first out... Grounder to SS near second base, steps on bag and throws to first for easy double-play to end the half-inning... B2, Tech makes it 3-0 on Mihyia Davis single and Lauren Allred double (hard grounder down the first-base line traveling deep into the outfield)... K for first out... 3-0 count on Lagi Quiroga, catcher visits Faircloth... Four-pitch walk, runners on first and second... Back to top of order with Williams... 2-0 count... MSU pitching coach Taryne Mowatt-McKinney out to talk to Faircloth (brings back memories of when I blogged 19 years ago about Mowatt pitching for Arizona in the WCWS)... Williams with sharp line double to left, driving in a run (4-0 Tech) and leaving runners at second and third. Pitching change with Peja Goold coming in... One has to question leaving Faircloth in as long as MSU did... This game on the verge of getting out of hand for MSU... Foul pop for second out... Grounder for third out... Bulldogs lucky to be down "only" by four runs... T3, opening K... Easy fly to right for second out... Canady getting ahead in the count on most batters, rolling along... Grounder to third to end the half-inning... B3, Tech goes down 1-2-3...T4, leadoff infield single for MSU... Deep fly-out to center, runner stays... Almost an exact duplicate of last at-bat, fly to similar spot in center, for second out... Walk, giving Bulldogs runners on first and second for Morgan Bernardini... 1-2 count... Line-out to right for third out, still 4-0 Texas Tech... B4... Another 1-2-3 inning for Red Raider batters... T5... Tech switches to Kaitlyn Terry in the circle. MSU was starting to get decent metal on the ball in the last inning, although always right at an outfielder...

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