Three Texas Tech Softball Players Earn D1Softball Preseason All-American Honors
D1 Softball announced its preseason All-Americans on Wednesday, and three Texas Tech Red Raiders earned the honors.
NiJaree Canady and MIhyia Davis were named to the First Team. Taylor Pannell was named to the Second Team. All three previously earned similar accolades from Softball America.
𝐃𝟏𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥-𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬
— D1Softball (@D1Softball) January 21, 2026
Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and UCLA headline a stellar pool of talent as we unveil the 2026 D1Softball Preseason All-Americans.
🔗 https://t.co/hKG2fzmODA pic.twitter.com/WZy1hSeTjV
Canady enters her senior season with one goal in mind: win a national championship. The right-handed pitcher and utility player has made it to Oklahoma City in each of her first three seasons of collegiate seasons, two with Stanford, and has played in the Women's College World Series Championship Series once.
In her first season with the Red Raiders, Canady was a huge part of Texas Tech history. She led the program to its first Super Regional and then on to its first WCWS appearance before appearing in the finals against Texas.
Canady finished the season with a 34-7 record and a 1.11 ERA and 319 strikeouts. She was a top-three finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year, and was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a First Team All-American.
Preseason All-Americans! pic.twitter.com/rsQjhbhurD
— Texas Tech Softball (@TexasTechSB) January 21, 2026
Davis was also a force for Texas Tech but in a much different way than Canady. The outfielder as named to the All-Big 12 First Team and set a new single-season program record for hits (93) and runs (66) last year.
The senior also transferred into the program before last season, but spent her first two seasons at Louisiana. As a sophomore with the Ragin' Cajuns, Davis was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
Pannell joins the Red Raiders after three seasons with the Tennessee Lady Vols, where she was a two-time All-SEC First Team honoree and earned NFCA Second Team All-American honors last season.
PRESEASON NO. 1️⃣: @TexasTechSB & @TexasSoftball 🤩#NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/6lTZIQ3YUT
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) January 20, 2026
The third baseman slashed .398/.493/.747 in 2025, leading the Lady Vols in all three categories. She drove in 65 RBIs, which is tied for 10th in program history for a single season, and her 16 home runs are tied for eighth on the single-season leaderboard.
Pannell finished last season ranked in the top-15 in the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, hits, and RBIs.
Texas Tech enters the season ranked No. 1 in the Softball America Top 25 and tied for No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Softball Coaches' Poll. The program is ranked No. 2 in the D1 Softball Top 25.
The Red Raiders will open their season on February 5 against McNeese in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
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Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 and spent the 2023 season covering Husker Softball for Hail Varsity. In addition to All Huskers, she is a staff writer for the Los Angeles Sports Report.