NiJaree Canady delivered the best outing of her professional career Friday night, throwing the first complete game of the season for the Texas Volts and leading the team to its first shutout in franchise history with a 1-0 walk-off victory over the Carolina Blaze in eight innings at Dell Diamond. The win also marked the first of Canady’s professional career.
The rookie right-hander allowed five hits across eight scoreless innings while striking out a season-high six batters and walking four. Canady threw a season-high 131 pitches, including 81 strikes, and stranded nine Carolina runners to keep the Blaze off the scoreboard.
Her biggest escape came in the sixth inning after Carolina loaded the bases with one out. Canady retired Baylee Klingler on a foul out before striking out Jenna Laird swinging to end the inning and preserve the scoreless tie.
Texas finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth when Ally Carda, serving as the international tiebreaker runner, advanced to third on a groundout before Rylie Boone lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score the game’s only run.
The victory snapped the Volts’ eight-game losing streak while giving Texas its first shutout in franchise history and first walk-off win of the season.
The Volts and Blaze continue their three-game series on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT at Dell Diamond.
