NiJaree Canady explains how Stanford finds extra gear in elimination games

Stanford softball avoided elimination yet again on Sunday evening as it earned a 3-1 win against UCLA in the Women’s College World Series. Starting pitcher NiJaree Canady was a big reason why as she finished with eight strikeouts and allowed just four hits in what was a stalwart defensive effort.

The Cardinal are now 5-0 in elimination games this postseason with another one upcoming on Monday against the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns. Canady spoke with ESPN’s Holly Rowe following the win against the Bruins, where she offered her thoughts on how Stanford has found success with its back against the wall.

“I think just wanting to fight for each other,” she explained. “We want to do whatever it takes to win as many games as possible and fight for out teammates. So we’re gonna do that.”

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The USA Collegiate Softball Player of the Year, Canady has pitched ever elimination game thus far for the Cardinal. She’s also been the team’s start for all three games in the WCWS thus far and is expected to again start on Monday against Texas.

She leads Stanford with 223.2 innings pitched this season for an NCAA-leading 330 strikeouts and .74 ERA. She put together yet another impressive performance Sunday, but more than any of the stats, the win is what stands out to her most.

“Pretty good,” she said. of her day. “It’s always an improvement. The only thing that matters is that we’re winning, so as long as we do that.”

NiJaree Canady will face another big challenge on Monday against a Texas team that leads the NCAA with a .378 batting average as a team. The Longhorns defeated Stanford by a score of 4-0 earlier in WCWS play, so it will come down to the Cardinal’s ability to put runs on the board as well as Canady to remain sharp after pitching so many innings already.

Start time for the game between Stanford and Texas is set for 2:30 p.m. ET and the Cardinal must win that game to force a win-or-go-home matchup later in the day. This is the fourth time Stanford had made the Women’s College World Series in program history, though it has never advance to the final.

“Definitely excited for tomorrow,” Canady said.