And then there were four. After winning their first two games of the WCWS, the Crimson Tide sits in an enviable position of having no losses in a double-elimination bracket. Should Alabama top Texas Tech Monday evening, they move onto the Finals. If the Red Raiders were to prevail (BANNED!), the two teams would play a second game with the winner moving onto the Finals.
SCHEDULE
- Monday, June 1: Alabama vs Texas Tech, 6pm/7pm – ESPN
- If necessary, Monday, June 1: Alabama vs Texas Tech, 8:30pm/9:30pm – ESPN
HOW TO WATCH… ALLEGEDLY
ESPN and Streaming: Alabama fans continue to get the fine work from Kevin Brown on play-by-play, Amanda Scarborough with color, and sideline reporting from Alyssa Lang.
WEATHER
Sunny and hot.
TEXAS TECH (59-8 overall, 21-3 B12) PREVIEW
The Red Raiders started out the season winning 11 straight games. The most significant game was a one run win over Texas A&M in College Station. Tech participated in the Clearwater Invitational but got a pretty easy draw. The toughest victory was a one-runner versus a flawed FSU team. Their finale in central Florida against Nebraska halted the win streak.
From that point, they captured 14 straight victories, but the opposition were all cupcakes. In Big 12 play, the Red Raiderettes, won 2 out of 3 at home versus Arizona, but swept Houston, Iowa State, and BYU.
Two of three games went their way at Utah. A day after that series, TT won at Utah State, and a day later went straight to San Antonio, TX to play UTSA. The next day, it was off to San Marcos and Texas State. They lost that last game. It is unclear whose idea it was to play consecutive games on six straight days in four different road locations.
The Lubbockians swept Arizona State but the Sun Devils would get revenge in the third round of the Big 12 Tournament. Tech was assigned the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament and cruised past Ole Miss. It took three games to dispatch of Florida in the Gainesville Super.
In their WCWS opener, Tech was fortunate enough to get underdogs Mississippi State. A win over Bully was followed by a loss to Tennessee that put them in the Loser’s Bracket. UCLA took them to 9 innings, but TT prevailed.
THROW THE BALL
When NiJaree Canady (27-6, 1.91 ERA) was pilfered from Stanford for north of $1 million, it made headlines across the nation. She is an elite pitcher but to be honest, she has digressed a bit over the years. Her ERA went from 0.57 and 0.73 with the Cardinal to 1.11 last season with the black and red followed by 1.91 this year. She is still a dangerous foe for sure, but she does not seem as infallible as she used to be. In five of her last eight outings, the senior has had a game ERA over 4.50. On Sunday, she allowed five runs on two homers over four innings (reinserted into the game). She has not recorded a complete game in the post-season.
Fortunately for Tech, they also poached Kaitlyn Terry (24-2, 1.71 ERA) from UCLA. She has been the better of the two IMHO, but has struggled a little in the post-season. Neither of these young ladies have gone seven innings very often and the coaches like to use both pitchers in a game – as well as reinserting a pitcher into a game.
Samantha Lincoln (7-0, 3.43 ERA) is sometimes used as well, but she has been hammered in three post-season appearances.
TL/DR: Two pitchers share the role of No. 1 pitcher.
HIT THE BALL
Leadoff hitter Mia Williams, plundered from Florida, is hitting .440 with 24 doubles, 25 homers, 91 runs, and 84 RBIs. Her on-base is at .526 and her slugging is .935. When not pitching, Kaitlyn Terry plays left field and hits .443 with 57 RBI and a OB% of .539. Jackie Lis’s batting average is.430 with 21 round-trippers, 55 runs scored, and 75 knocked in.
TL/DR: The Red Raiders hit a lot and score a bunch of runs. They like to out-score opponents.
CATCH THE BALL
They are a decent fielding team with a .974 success rate.
HOT HEAD
Gerry Glasco was at ULL from 2018–2024 and made the NCAAT in each season with one Super Regional appearance. 2026 is his second campaign in the city with no planted trees.
TEN CENT ANALYSIS
Mega-rich a-hole Cody Campbell and his billionaire oil tyrant buddies hired Glasco away in their ever-expanding attempts to buy a National Championship in any sport. With their purchases of Canady (Stanford), Terry (UCLA), Williams (Florida), Taylor Pannell (filched from Tennessee), four players swiped from ULL, and several others, the RRs got to the 2025 WCWS final and lost. [Of note, only eight of the current 23 Red Raiders on the roster signed with the team as freshmen.] The Red Raiders and their classless fans have created a good deal of drama in the post-season and are definitely the villains of this post-season. They have disgustingly embraced that role as if poor sportsmanship is a badge of honor. It feels like they are overdue for a heaping tablespoon of comeuppance.
Here again, who Patrick Murphy starts will be an interesting choice. Having a day off, it seems logical that he would go for the kill and start Jocely Briski. You never play for tomorrow.
If the Tide can stay focused and steer clear of the Tech drama, they are going to be tough to top.
THE OTHER BRACKET
The 7-seed Vols were unbeaten coming into Monday. However, the 2-seed Longhorns topped Tennessee 5-2 and 4-0 and eliminated them. Texas awaits the winner of Alabama-Texas Tech for a best of three championship.
#RollTide #Team30
