Just one Pac-12 team will advance past Sunday in the 2024 Women’s College World Series.
No. 8 Stanford kept its season alive with a shutout victory over No. 5 Oklahoma State on Friday, while No. 6 UCLA lost its first game of the tournament to No. 2 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Not only are the two Pac-12 teams fighting to keep their seasons alive, but it’s the last opportunity each side will have to represent the conference. The Pac-12 will be abolished after this season.
Stanford (49-16) is led by NiJaree Canady, who is essentially untouchable on the mound. She’s easily the best pitcher in Division I by way of earned runs average. Her 0.74 ERA is first in the country by .37 points.
Canady isn’t pitching in limited innings either. She’s thrown 216.2 innings across 39 appearances. She struck out seven in six innings against Oklahoma State on Friday.
Stanford’s offense is well-rounded with no absolute outlier. Emily Jones leads the team with a .330 batting average and Aly Kaneshiro and Ava Gall each have 11 home runs.
UCLA (43-11), on the other hand, is led by superb hitting. Maya Brady, Tom Brady’s niece, leads the team with a .436 batting average, 1.358 OPS, 59 runs, 71 hits and 68 RBIs.
Sharlize Palacios is another big bat to watch out for. She has a .381 average, 1.349…
