{"id":320198,"date":"2026-06-03T02:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T02:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/320198\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T02:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T02:37:08","slug":"wcws-final-texas-texas-tech-softball-players-speak-about-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/320198\/","title":{"rendered":"WCWS final: Texas, Texas Tech softball players speak about rivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Texas Tech<\/a> star pitcher\u00a0NiJaree Canady <\/a>has only been in Lubbock for two seasons, but it didn’t take the Stanford transfer and Topeka, Kan., native long to figure the generational enmity that exists between the Red Raiders faithful and the University of Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think I’ve ever seen a rivalry this deep before,\u201d Canaday said, referring to the two athletic depratments. \u201cI don’t know, sports are different in Texas. I’m just excited to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Excitement doesn\u2019t quite describe the simmering tension between the Longhorns and Texas Tech that boiled over online a few weeks ago after Texas football<\/a> coach Steve Sarkisian<\/a> mocked the Red Raiders\u2019 football schedule<\/a> by saying \u201cif I played (it) with our twos and our threes, we could go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That prompted a challenge from billionaire Texas Tech benefactor Cody Campbell, who offered to finagle a nonconference meeting between the SEC\u2019s Longhorns and the Big 12’s Red Raiders.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchedule us then!\u201d Campbell tweeted<\/a>, tagging Sarkisian and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about it for years and we are more than willing!!\u201d<\/p>\n

All of which prompted grins from Canady, several other players and Texas Tech softball coach Gerry Glasco during Tuesday’s WCWS press conference at Devon Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m excited for the rivalry, because there’s a lot going on with football right now with Texas and Texas Tech,\u201d said Red Raiders outfielder Lauren Allred, a Texas native from the left side of the state line in Texarkana. \u201cSo, I think it’s just kind of adding fuel to the fire, and it’s fun to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the way, Allred may be Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire’s favorite player. Both Allred and McGuire, who’s one of the softball team’s biggest fans, were born\u00a0in Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, much to the delight of McGuire.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Joey, he’s Lauren’s biggest fan,\u201d Glasco said. \u201cHe puts on Lauren’s jersey every game day. He’s awesome. He sends me texts every game, gets me all pumped up. Sends me emotional clips to watch and show the girls. It\u2019s really amazing that a head football coach can be as involved in our program as he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for a Texas softball<\/a> program that likely thinks more about SEC rivals Oklahoma and Texas A&M<\/a> than the Red Raiders, the Longhorns addressed the idea of a perceived rivalry Tuesday with a polite shrug.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s a rivalry with everyone with Texas,\u201d Longhorns pitcher\u00a0Teagan Kavan<\/a> said. \u201cI think it’s fun. It makes every game fun. It’s a lot of energy. It’s a lot of fan engagement and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 Texas Tech star pitcher\u00a0NiJaree Canady has only been in Lubbock for two seasons, but it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31075,46014,66615,114811,1888,3231,27,29,537,536,28703,28,415,56529,63517,63518],"class_list":["post-320198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-chris-del-conte","tag-college-softball","tag-dallas-sharing","tag-in-state-rivalry","tag-joey-mcguire","tag-steve-sarkisian","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-football","tag-texas-longhorns-softball","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-texas-tech-softball","tag-wcws","tag-women-s-college-world-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}