OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas and Texas Tech will meet in the championship series of the Women’s College World Series in back-to-back years after both teams won semifinal matchups on a scorcher of a day at Devon Park that saw the maximum four games with two “if necessary” showdowns.Texas has won six elimination games in the NCAA Tournament so far, including two on Monday, to reach its fourth championship series in five years and its third straight. The Longhorns and Red Raiders became the 11th and 12th teams in WCWS history to lose their opener and then reach the finals. This is the first matchup of teams to do that since 2021, when FSU and Oklahoma accomplished the feat.The Red Raiders return to the championship series after knocking out No. 1 overall seed Alabama, marking their second consecutive appearance in the finals. Kaitlyn Terry and NiJaree Canady worked in tandem in the circle in Game 1 to keep the bats of Alabama’s potent offense relatively quiet, but Canady took it to another level in Game 2, throwing a complete-game shutout. She now has a shutout in each of her four appearances in the WCWS.“I’m just excited to be able to make it to the championship series again,” Canady said on facing Texas in back-to-back championships. “It’s just a blessing to play them again. It’s good for the state of Texas, showing how good softball is in the state, and I feel like we’re going to get a good turnout.”“Just so proud of my girls,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said. “They really bought in in the last — I feel like the last 30 days that we just have come together and became a whole different team, and they’re just playing for each other so well now.”As per usual for the Red Raiders’ stacked lineup, it was a runs-by-committee kind of day, with RBIs from five players: Lauren Allred, Terry, Jasmyn Burns, Taylor Pannell — who both homered — and Mia Williams, whose walk-off in Game 1 kept the Red Raiders’ chances alive. Burns was the sole provider of the offense in Game 2 with a solo home run, her second in as many days. That was all Texas Tech needed to shut out the Tide, though another run scored on an error in the top of the seventh allowed Mihyia Davis to add some insurance.