Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I think congratulations are in order for the Rockies, who have finally reached double-digit wins. They’re now 10–50 after beating the Marlins last night.
In today’s SI:AM:
⚜️ Saints preview
⚾ Contact hitting back in vogue
📈 MLB’s best and worst of May
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Changing of the guard in OKC
One of the most dominant dynasties in the history of college sports has fallen.
The Oklahoma Sooners softball program, winners of four straight national championships, will not play for a fifth consecutive title after being eliminated from the Women’s College World Series by the Texas Tech Raiders on Monday.
Oklahoma’s loss to the Texas Longhorns on Saturday bumped the Sooners to the losers’ bracket, meaning they would have to defeat Texas Tech twice on Monday if they were to advance. Instead, Oklahoma’s historic run came to an end in a dramatic 3–2 loss.
Oklahoma may have been the more storied program, but Texas Tech had the best player on the field. Junior NiJaree Canady transferred to Tech this season after being named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year with the Stanford Cardinal. Her decision to lead Stanford after leading the team to consecutive WCWS appearances sent shockwaves through the softball world. But it wasn’t as shocking as the price tag associated with the move. Canady’s transfer came with an NIL agreement with Texas Tech’s Matador Club collective worth $1 million. (Well, $1,050,024, to be exact. That’s $1 million for her, $50,000 for living expenses and an additional $24 because she wears No. 24.)
The deal makes Canady the first million-dollar softball player in NCAA history—and she’s been worth every penny. She has a 0.90 ERA in 43 pitching appearances, with 21 complete games and seven shutouts. Opposing hitters are batting just .153 against her, and she has 304 strikeouts in 226 innings. She’s also been pretty good at the plate, batting .297 with 11 homers in 101 at-bats.
Canady took the mound on Monday in a star-studded matchup against Oklahoma ace Sam Landry. Texas Tech scratched across two runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead and the score remained 2–0 until the top of the seventh and final inning. The Sooners were down to their final strike when the light-hitting Abigale Dayton—the No. 9 hitter in the lineup who had hit just two home runs all season—took Canady deep to tie the game at 2–2.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 😱#WCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @OU_Softball pic.twitter.com/OsPLWvqgTj
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) June 3, 2025
It looked for a moment as though Oklahoma would have a chance to salvage its hopes of a fifth straight championship, but Texas Tech got to Landry again in the bottom of the inning. After Landry retired the first batter of the inning, she allowed a single and then a double to give the Red Raiders runners on second and third with one out. Lauren Allred then hit a sacrifice fly to right, allowing the winning run to score and end the Sooners’ dynasty.
“We didn’t want it to be easy. It’s Oklahoma. You knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Texas Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said. “This was our chance at forever—to leave a legacy at Texas Tech that will be remembered forever. Our team has done that. They’ve left a legacy.”
Glasco is in his first year at Texas Tech after leading the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to six straight NCAA tournaments. Now he’s led the Red Raiders deeper into the postseason than they’ve ever been. This is their seventh NCAA tournament appearance, but their first time advancing past the regional round. Now they’re two wins away from capturing Texas Tech’s fourth national championship in any sport.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- The New Orleans Saints hope that new head coach Kellen Moore will provide a new direction for a franchise that has languished since Drew Brees's retirement, writes Matt Verderame in SI’s 32 Teams in 32 Days series.
- Contact baseball is back in vogue again, as the league has seen higher batting averages and lower slugging percentages, Tom Verducci writes.
- Stephanie Apstein writes that the Chicago White Sox, taking advantage of Pope Leo XIV’s fanbase, humorously considers Vatican City a potential new location for fans and a baseball frontier, despite the logistical challenges and their last-place standing.
- Will Laws shares his best and worst MLB performers during May.
- A high school junior from Georgia qualified for this month’s 125th U.S. Open after shooting a pair of 63s.
- Two frontrunners have emerged in the race to take over ESPN’s package of MLB games.
- Stephen Curry says he wants to own an NBA team after he retires.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. The teamwork from the Tigers’ Dillon Dingler and Zach McKinstry on a wacky play in foul territory.
4. NiJaree Canady’s reaction to a clutch strikeout to end the sixth inning.
3. Luis Hernandez’s clutch homer in the eighth inning to give LSU some breathing room in a tight elimination game against Little Rock.
2. Murray State’s celebration after beating Ole Miss to advance to its first NCAA baseball super regional in program history.
1. The play at the plate that won the game for Texas Tech.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Oklahoma Dynasty Crumbles in WCWS Classic.