Texas Tech’s Mia Williams was struck by two pitches during the WCWS opener against Mississippi State, the second incident coming when she was trying to steal. Despite the chaos, Jackie Lis hit a two-run homer and Texas Tech surged to an 8-0 run-rule victory, w
When Mia Williams stepped to the plate in the WCWS matchup against Mississippi State on Thursday, it looked like a normal start. It didn’t last.
Shortly after she took her stance, Williams was hit by a 51 mph pitch delivered by Bulldogs pitcher Alyssa Faircloth. The ball struck her in the back at the bottom of the first inning. Williams walked to the base after being hit.
In her very next at-bat, Jackie Lis answered. Lis launched a two-run home run to put the Red Raiders in the lead, 2-0, with no outs.
“When your teammate gets hit you take that personally,” Lis said postgame. “And if we didn’t learn anything from last weekend, when Mia Williams get hit, you take it personally and you step up for your team in those moments.”
Williams didn’t escape the game’s rough edges for long. She was hit a second time in the head while trying to steal a base. Mississippi State catcher Des Rivera threw to first base. and the diving Williams was struck in the side of the helmet. The errant throw was ruled a dead ball, and Williams advanced two bases.
That sequence came at the start of a four-run fifth inning that helped propel Texas Tech to an 8-0 run-rule victory in the first game of the WCWS.
The numbers around Williams have turned from rare to constant. In her first 61 games, she was hit by a pitch four times. After Thursday’s game, Williams had been hit six times in the last four games.
That shift has continued to echo from earlier in the postseason. Mia Williams is the daughter of former NBA player Jason Williams. She transferred this past offseason to play for Texas Tech after two seasons at Florida. which the Red Raiders faced in the super regional. In that series. Texas Tech’s second baseman was hit by a pitch five times. including one on the first pitch of Game 3 by Florida ace Keagan Rothrock.
There was still production in the swing moments when the ball didn’t come at her. In the at-bats where Williams wasn’t hit by a pitch, she went 3-for-7 with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored.
In a brief comment to Gainesville, Jason Williams said Florida coach Tim Walton’s ejection in the bottom of the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes was “premeditated.” Jason Williams added that he didn’t have to shake hands after the game with his daughter.
The WCWS opener ended quickly once Texas Tech seized control. But for Williams, the storyline didn’t just start on Thursday—it has followed her, pitch after pitch, into the biggest stage of the season.
Mia Williams Texas Tech softball WCWS Mississippi State Alyssa Faircloth Des Rivera Jackie Lis Tim Walton Jason Williams Keagan Rothrock