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Canady sends Stanford to rematch with Texas, UCLA eliminated from WCWS

Screenshot 2024-07-31 at 7.46.34 PMby:Brady Vernon•06/02/24•

BradyVernon

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Crash Kamon/Softball America

NiJaree Canady’s mask flying off felt like a metaphor for the night. Nothing would hold her back from keeping the Cardinal’s season alive. Stanford eliminated UCLA following a 3-1 in the final Pac-12 softball showdown.

Canady’s riseball was electric throughout the night, but her energy was even better. The trademark stomp came out time and time again behind her eight strikeouts. Even Megan Grant’s (the first homer Canady has allowed the first time through the order in her career) early home run didn’t phase her.

Although the Bruins swept the Cardinal in the regular season, they didn’t have incredible success versus Canady. According to Synergy Sports, the Bruins struck out 19 times – 10 on the rise and seven on her changeup – and batted .193 against Canady.

Those trends continued. Canady shut down Maya Brady and Sharlize Palacios, holding them hitless with four strikeouts. Brady struck out three times for the second straight game after not having three Ks in a game since 2021. As good as Canady’s riseball was she pulled the string on both Brady and Palacios to finish off at-bats.

“I thought NiJaree was absolutely phenomenal,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said. “She’s incredibly competitive. I think that’s a little bit of her superhuman power. I know she feels like she has a lot of ’em. Maybe the biggest one is she wants to be in those moments. In those moments, she’s not scared. She’s aggressive, assertive and believes that she can do it.

“You can see how our team fuels off that energy, rallies behind her. You can hear them talking about her, how much they love her. I think NiJaree is a phenomenal teammate, a phenomenal person. She gets just as excited for her teammates’ successes as her own. You can see all of that passion come out when she’s on the field.”

UCLA only had one at-bat with runners in scoring position. After a pair of singles, Palacios had a chance with runners at the corners. Canady induced a groundout to end the threat.

Here is the location of all of Canady’s strikeouts via Synergy Sports:

The Stanford offense quickly picked up its pitcher after Grant’s solo shot. Taryn Kern’s big bat delivered for the Cardinal when it mattered most. She took a Kaitlyn Terry curveball the opposite way to the left-center field gap to tie the game.

Kelly Inouye-Perez removed her freshman arm in favor of Taylor Tinsley. The sophomore righty set Kyra Chan on three pitches. However, Ava Gall provided the go-ahead run. Gall swung through a good pitch before getting another prime opportunity over the plate and knocking it into right field for an RBI.

Kern has had an incredible on-base percentage all season long and showed her power that won her the Big Ten Player of the Year last year down the stretch. Regardless of what happened in the regular season, she came through when Stanford needed it.

“I feel like that’s one of your dreams as a little kid, to play at the World Series, come up in a big moment for your team, help out NiJaree, my girls. So it was awesome,” Kern said.

Allister talked about how impactful Kern and Gall have been this season.

“I don’t know what Taryn’s on-base percentage is right now,” she said. “It’s really, really good to have the power that she has. Taryn is another one, she thrives in the big moments. She loves that piece. She just gives us confidence and puts together really good at-bats consistently.

“Then Ava just coming into her own. Like all freshmen, hitting is hard. You have a little bit of your ups and downs. Seeing her just gain confidence with every game that she plays, every pitcher she faces. Getting off good swings. It’s been fun to watch. She’s been impressive.”

Stanford used the short game to tack on an insurance run in the fifth inning. Emily Jones and Kaitlyn Lim put down two beautiful bunts for back-to-back singles. Jones came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Allie Clements.

This bow not only puts a bow on Pac-12 softball but the incredible career of Brady.

“I mean, this was my dream. I feel like as a little girl you always look at the program, the coaching staff, the players. You think that they’re untouchable,” Brady said. “Just to get the opportunity to wear this jersey, get my degree, be close to my family. My family at every game has just been perfect. I knew that’s why I was coming to UCLA anyway. But it surpassed my expectations. We never got to win, but trust me, I’m winning in life. You graduate from UCLA, got my Masters, and I feel like just so blessed. I can’t even put it into words.”

Inouye-Perez praised this UCLA team for its turnaround from a slow start.

“I’ve never been so proud of a team. I’ve coached for a long time. It was hard. This season was hard. Nobody expected us, I was telling the team, not even us, that we were going to get here.

“Our coaches, our players, our staff, the support, the belief, the trust, the work to get us back here is something that I am proud of. I am proud.”

Stanford will face Texas for the fourth – and potentially fifth time if the Cardinal force the if-necessary game – on Monday starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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