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Softball star NiJaree Canady throws first perfect game for Texas Tech
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- Softball star NiJaree Canady throws first perfect game for Texas Tech
NiJaree Canady 's college career has been littered with impressive accolades and head-turning milestones.
The Texas Tech senior pitcher has led the nation in earned run average and strikeouts. She's been named the National Player of the Year. Last season in the NCAA Tournament and Women's College World Series, she threw 686 consecutive pitches for the Red Raiders, earning iron-woman status.
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Canady has also notched several no-hitters in her career, but had never tossed a perfect game.
Until Saturday.
Canady struck out nine Baylor batters in five innings and didn't allow a baserunner in Texas Tech's 8-0 win over their rivals in Lubbock, Texas. The victory — on senior day for Texas Tech — finishes the regular season for the Red Raiders, who clinched the Big 12 title and will be the No. 1 overall seed in next week's conference tournament.
And for Canady, it's another milestone that reinforces her as the sport's best pitcher.
The 6-foot right-hander from Topeka, Kansas, entered Saturday's contest ranking sixth nationally in ERA (1.38), fourth in hits allowed per seven innings (3.37), 17th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.59) and 14th in total strikeouts (179). The win over Baylor marked her sixth shutout of the season and her fifth no-hitter.
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"It's really cool. I feel like today was a big day. Just to come out and win on senior day means a lot," Canady said on the ESPN broadcast. "Right now I'm just trying to enjoy my last couple games playing here and finishing my college career."
Canady is the highest paid player in college softball, earning more than $1 million from Texas Tech's NIL collective, the Matador Club. Last season — her first at Texas Texas after transferring from Stanford — she was a consensus first-team All-American and named National Pitcher of the Year by D1 Softball and NFCA after powering the Red Raiders to their first Big 12 championship and appearance in the Women's College World Series.
Earlier this year, she was the first player to receive one of the AUSL's golden tickets, making her eligible for the professional softball league's draft, which will be held at 7 p.m. Monday.
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The Big 12 Softball Tournament begins on Thursday in Oklahoma City. Saturday's championship game will air live on ESPN at 12 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NiJaree Canady throws first perfect game for Texas Tech softball
