Mississippi State softball will face Texas oil money and the sport’s richest pitcher

By Rick Cleveland | Originally published by Mississippi Today

This history-making Mississippi State softball team already has written a fascinating story, lifting an often largely ignored sport in the Magnolia State’s headlines. Win or lose at the Women’s College World Series, which begins Thursday in Oklahoma City, that story is about to get all the more intriguing. At this point, State is playing with house money. Nobody expected this.

Problem is, Texas Tech, the Bulldogs’ first opponent, is playing with real money – West Texas oil money. Millions. We’ll get to that.

First, what the Bulldog softballers have achieved: State, which entered the NCAA Tournament with a 38-18 record (just 9-15 in the murderous SEC), traveled cross-continent to Eugene, Oregon, and swept through an NCAA Regional there, winning three straight games while allowing only two runs. The Bulldogs blanked host Oregon, the nation’s 12th ranked team, 4-0 behind pitcher Alyssa Faircloth’s no-hit, 10-strikeout performance, They were just getting started.

Next, State traveled to Norman, Oklahoma, to take on the second ranked Oklahoma Sooners in a best-of-three Super Regional. It appeared a mismatch: No. 2 vs. unranked, 20-4 in the SEC vs. 9-15. Furthermore, Oklahoma has tradition as a softball powerhouse, having played in the previous nine Women’s College World Series. This will be State’s first.

It gets better. State trailed the Sooners 5-1 early in the opener before storming back for nine runs over the last two innings for an 11-9 victory. It was Oklahoma’s first Super Regional loss since 2015.

Understand: The Sooners play in a softball Super Regional every year. After dropping a 7-1 decision in Game Two, the Bulldogs shocked the Sooners and their packed stadium of 4,250 fans by winning Game Three 6-0 on Delaney Everett’s three-hit shutout. Get this: It was the first time proud Oklahoma had been shut out in 399 games.

You want some added spice? State coach Samantha Ricketts is a former Oklahoma softball All American and graduate assistant coach. Nobody knows better than she what her team had achieved winning a Super Regional at Norman. 

Now then, let’s jump ahead to what the Bulldogs face Thursday at Oklahoma City. This is where a good story becomes captivating. State plays Texas Tech in the eight-team, double elimination tournament’s first game at 11 a.m.

And I know what many non-softball fans are thinking: Hmmm, Texas Tech softball, where have I heard about them before?

Well, it was probably on July 24, 2024, when Texas Tech made front page news, the lead story on ESPN Sportscenter, signing former Stanford pitching star NiJaree Canady to a $1 million contract to switch schools and lead Tech to college softball’s promised land.

Canady, a phenomenal talent, had led Stanford to two straight Women’s College World Series as a dominating pitcher. She had achieved a 41-10 overall record, a 0.66 earned run average, 555 strikeouts and 9 saves in her freshman and sophomore seasons. But she also wanted to hit. She wanted to become softball’s Shohei Ohtani. That was Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco’s recruiting pitch to her – that she could play first base and hit when she wasn’t pitching if she came to Tech. Glasco also enlisted Patrick Mahomes, the NFL superstar and Tech alum, in the recruitment of Canady, a native Kansan and a devoted Kansas City Chiefs fan.

And, oh yes, there was the NIL deal, and this is where West Texas oil money comes into play. Tech offered a one-year, $1,050,024 contract (a million for Canady, $50,000 for living expenses, $24 for her jersey number). She apparently is a smart young lady. She took it. Who pays a cool million for a softball player, you ask? Billionaire couple John and Tracy Sellers, both former Texas Tech athletes, that’s who. John played football. Tracy played softball. They have donated millions upon millions to Tech, including to Canady’s NIL deal.

Softball, you see, is different than other sports. One player – one great pitcher – can make a mediocre team a national contender. In softball, a pitcher can pitch nearly every game. We saw it in Mississippi back in 1999-2000, when Courtney Blades transferred to Southern Miss from Nicholls State  and proceeded to take the Golden Eagles to two consecutive Women’s College World Series. Blades had a two-year record of 95-13 for USM. She was the national player of the year. She is the only softball player in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Alas, Blades did get not millions playing college softball. Not back then.

But this is now. Texas Tech is getting their money’s worth. Canady took Texas Tech, which had never been much good at softball, to the Women’s College World Series last season. The Red Raiders advanced to the championship game before losing to Texas in the finale. She then signed a $1.2 million contract to return to Tech in hopes of winning it all.

And now the first obstacle to Tech’s multi-million dollar dream is Mississippi State. I have no way of knowing what State’s total NIL package for softball is, but I know it probably not even 20% what one player makes at Texas Tech. 

But I also know the Bulldogs have three quality pitchers to throw at Tech, including Californian Delaney Everett, the Super Regional hero. You talk about a Cinderella story. Everett pitched a three-hit shutout in Game Three of a Super Regional in her first start of the season. And I know that, despite losing, Florida scored 34 runs against Texas Tech in last week’s three-game Super Regional, including 12 runs against Canady.

State was highly competitive in a three-game series at Florida back in early April, losing 2-0 and 5-4, sandwiched around a 9-5 victory over the Gators. What’s more, State is playing much better softball now than the Bulldogs were then. This should be fun.

These Bulldogs are surely underdogs, but they have proven they can play against top level teams winning at Oregon and at Oklahoma. Besides, money isn’t everything, although, as we’ve seen at Texas Tech, it sure does make it easier.

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article