WCWS media day recap: Stanford softball 'excited' to see what NiJaree Canady does in OKC (2024)

The Women’s College World Series is set to begin Thursday at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

Eight teams will compete in a double-elimination tournament with a national championship on the line. And while No. 2-seeded OU hopes to win its fourth straight title, it'll have to earn it against a stacked field.

Here’s what each team had to say during media day on Wednesday:

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Stanford is 'excited' to see what NiJaree Canady does in WCWS

No. 8 Stanford is the third-lowest seed in the field for the Women’s College World Series.

But it has a not-so-secret weapon that makes it as dangerous as any team. It has sophom*ore pitcher NiJaree Canady, who won USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year award on Tuesday.

Canady ranks first in the nation in both ERA (0.65) and strikeouts (310). And she’s eager to lead Stanford as it begins its WCWS run with a game against No. 1 Texas at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“It's incredible,” Canady said. “Honestly, it's a dream come true to be here, to play in Oklahoma City and to get that (Player of the Year) honor. It's almost everything I could have dreamt up. Next thing is the national championship.”

Stanford reached the WCWS last season, and Canady showed out as a freshman.

She appeared in all four games for the Cardinal, which reached the semifinals. Canady only gave up three earned runs in 18 ⅔ innings, and she racked up 25 strikeouts along the way.

It was a dominant stretch by Canady, and the reigning Collegiate Player of the Year has only stepped up her game since then.

“I think when we were here last year, NiJaree appeared as if she had been here a million times,” Stanford senior catcher Aly Kaneshiro said. “I was absolutely blown away by her. Nonetheless, she put in a ton of work in the offseason, fall, winter and this entire season. She just has continued to get better.

“Her toughness, her competitiveness was never in question. … I'm excited to see what she does this year, for sure."

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Texas is 'going to be ready' for rematch against NiJaree Canady, Stanford

The Longhorns will begin their Women's College World Series run with a familiar foe in the Cardinal.

No. 1 Texas will face No. 8 Stanford at 6 p.m. Thursday. It’ll be a rematch of two teams that split a pair of regular-season meetings.

“They’re a tough club,” Texas head coach Mike White said. “They’re fired up. … But we're going to be ready. That's what it is. That's what makes this thing great is that it's a new day. It's 0-0, so let's go.”

Texas earned a 9-2 win over Stanford in the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational on Feb. 16.

It was a dominant performance by the Longhorns, who scored eight runs in the first three innings and never looked back. But their second meeting with the Cardinal proved to be far more challenging.

Stanford rolled out star pitcher NiJaree Canady, who was named USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year, in its road game against Texas on Feb. 24. The Cardinal earned a 4-3 win in eight innings, and Canady pitched the whole game.

Canady racked up 11 strikeouts in the process. The sophom*ore ace will surely get the start on Thursday against Texas, which is hoping for a different result in the rubber match.

“NiJaree is just such a great pitcher,” Texas catcher Reese Atwood said. “She won that (Player of the Year) award last night for a reason. One of the best pitchers I've ever faced.

“Going into this weekend, I'm going to make sure the team is on track to do what we do best, get on top of her rise ball, get a good pitch to hit. I think that's going to be key facing her.”

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Alabama hopes to pull off ‘some more’ upsets in WCWS

As Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy sat down for his press conference on Wednesday, he asked the media a question.

“How many of you expected me to be here?” Murphy asked with a huge grin while pointing at the crowd.

No hands were raised.

No. 14 Alabama enters the Women’s College World Series as the field’s lowest seed, and it beat the odds to reach Oklahoma City.

Alabama won the Knoxville Super Regional over No. 3 Tennessee, 2-1, in dramatic fashion. After suffering a 3-2 loss in Game 1, the Crimson Tide outlasted the Volunteers for a 3-2 win in a Game 2 that lasted 14 innings.

Alabama then earned a 4-1 win in Game 3 to secure its spot in the WCWS for the second straight season.

“I think it prepares us for everything,” Alabama graduate pitcher Kayla Beaver said of the Knoxville Super Regional. “Tennessee was selected to be a national championship team. They were a contender for it. They were an amazing competition.”

Alabama will be the underdog once again when it begins the WCWS with a game against No. 6 UCLA at 11 a.m. Thursday.

But that has never been an issue for the Crimson Tide.

“We did what we did,” Beaver said. “Now we're here to do it some more.”

More: Why OU softball coach Patty Gasso has the 'best senior class' in NCAA history

UCLA enters WCWS with 'battle tested' team

The first inning of the Bruins' first game set the tone for their season.

UCLA faced Maryland in the Stacy Winsberg Tournament on Feb. 9, and it trailed 4-0 with the first inning in the books. It was an early test for the Bruins, who rallied to earn a 6-5 victory.

"That's how our season started," UCLA head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. "But I think the whole season, there's a journey for a reason. You learn your lessons and really figure out who you are as a team."

No. 6 UCLA has overcome plenty of obstacles since then on its way to the Women's College Series, where it'll begin with a game against No. 14 Alabama at 11 a.m. Thursday.

The Bruins lost two starters to injuries in the first week. They began with a 3-4 record. They navigated a competitive Pac-12 en route to a conference regular-season and tournament title.

And as UCLA prepares to navigate an even more competitive field in the WCWS, Inouye-Perez feels her team is ready for the challenge.

"We built a lot of trust," Inouye-Perez said. "I believe that we're battled tested. ... When things got hard, certain people quit and there's other people that level up. This team decided to keep moving forward and continue to improve even though it was very challenging. The entire season prepared us for that."

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Lexi Kilfoyl is ‘playing my game’ as OSU’s ace pitcher

The term “ace” in softball refers to a team’s star pitcher.

An ace is leaned on, far more than anyone else in the pitching staff, and she's often viewed as the most important player on the team. It’s a common term, but it’s one OSU pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl isn’t fond of.

“I don't like the term ‘ace’ because I know a pitching staff, it takes every single one of us,” Kilfoyl said. “That was one of our things this year, we were going to use all of us.”

Kilfoyl is too unselfish to call herself an ace.

But the graduate pitcher fits that mold for No. 5 Oklahoma State, which begins its WCWS run with a game against No. 4 Florida at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Kilfoyl boasts a career highs of 146 strikeouts and 171 innings pitched this season, and she was recently named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.

Kilfoyl is in a lead role for the first time in her career. She spent three seasons at Alabama, which boasted a deep pitching staff. She then transferred to OSU, where she split time pretty evenly inside the circle with Kelly Maxwell last season.

But Maxwell has embraced an ace-like role this season, even if she isn’t a fan of the term.

“Honestly, I feel like the coaches helped me along the way,” Maxwell said. “(I’m) just playing my game with the support of my teammates, support of the coaches. I think if I put that term aside, I think you naturally fall into that place.”

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Duke ‘wants to win’ in its first-ever WCWS appearance

Duke is the new kid on the block in the Women’s College World Series.

This is only the seventh season in program history for the Blue Devils, and they’re making their first-ever WCWS appearance.It’s uncharted territory for Duke, which has visualized itself in this position for quite some time.

“We weren't just happy to be a new softball program,” Duke head coach Marissa Young said. “We wanted to be great. We wanted to compete for championships from Day 1.”

The Blue Devils came close to reaching the WCWS in each of the past two seasons.

Duke reached the Super Regional round for the first time in 2022, but it suffered a 2-0 series loss to UCLA. It then reached the Super Regionals again last season only to suffer a 2-0 series loss to Stanford.

But this season was different.

Duke earned a 2-1 series win over Missouri in the Columbia Super Regional. The Blue Devils booked their ticket to the WCWS with a 4-3 victory in a Game 3 thriller that lasted nine innings.

No. 10 Duke will begin with a game against No. 2 Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Playing at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in what’s sure to be a road-like environment will be a different experience for the Blue Devils, but their mentality won’t change.

“We definitely come into this College World Series with the same mindset,” Young said. “We're not just happy to be here for the first time. We want to win, and we want to compete.”

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Jocelyn Erickson, transfer additions have been 'a plus' for Florida

Tim Walton has experienced plenty of success throughout his 19 seasons as Florida’s head coach.

The Gators have made 12 Women’s College World Series appearances during that stretch, and they’ve won national championships in 2014 and 2015.

Florida is a softball powerhouse, and one key to its success as of late has been adding talent via the transfer portal.

“Transfers sometimes are actually better than high school recruits,” Walton said. “They already know what they either didn't have or do have or want. There's a lot of things that can be a plus.”

No. 4 Florida boasts five All-SEC first team players on its roster, and three of them are transfers.

Redshirt senior Skylar Wallace spent the first two seasons of her college career at Alabama before she joined Florida. She has since recorded 174 RBIs and 41 home runs on .413 hitting in three seasons with the Gators.

Another example is OU transfer Jocelyn Erickson, who arrived at Florida on July 14. The sophom*ore has racked up 80 RBIs and 13 home runs on .390 hitting this season, which earned her SEC Player of the Year honors.

Erickson helped OU win a national championship as a freshman last season. Now, she’s a leader on a Florida team that'll begin its WCWS run with a game against No. 5 Oklahoma State at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

“Jocelyn came in with the goals, Day 1, of what she wanted to be,” Walton said. “Then most importantly, she's a great teammate and a great leader and competitor on the field. … She's been a fantastic addition culturally, on and off the field.”

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Oklahoma will lean on 'special' senior class in WCWS

Rylie Boone. Alyssa Brito. Jayda Coleman. Kinzie Hansen. Tiare Jennings. Karlie Keeney. Riley Ludlam. Nicole May. Kelly Maxwell. Alynah Torres.

Those 10 players make up OU’s senior class, which has helped the team win three straight national championships.

And as the No. 2 Sooners prepare to begin another Women’s College World Series run with a game against No. 10 Duke at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, head coach Patty Gasso knows the legacy of her senior class is already cemented.

“This group of seniors is extremely special to this program,” Gasso said. “They'll go down in history not just at OU, but I personally would say across the country as one of the best classes softball has ever seen. Proud of that. Proud of their work ethic.”

This season has been different from previous ones for the Sooners’ senior class.

OU saw its NCAA record 71-game winning streak get snapped with a 7-5 loss to Louisiana. It suffered its first series loss to Texas since 2009. It went 54-6, which is tied for its most losses since 2019.

And, finally, OU isn’t the top seed in the WCWS for the first time since 2018. Still, the Sooners and their seniors don't feel outside pressure as they try to win a fourth straight title.

“We're not here to prove anybody anything,” Gasso said. “We're going to do the best we can to win it as a team and not to prove to the world there's no doubt we are the best. We’ve got to earn this.

“Regardless, no matter what, I will still stand behind the statement that this is the best senior class that has ever been in softball.”