The Oklahoma pitcher will be tasked with helping keep the No. 2 Sooners’ dreams of a fifth consecutive national championship alive when she faces off against No. 12 Texas Tech in what could be the first of two games in a jam-packed evening at the Women’s College World Series.
As she does that, she’ll be going up against more than a few familiar faces at the plate and in the opposing dugout.
Before arriving at Oklahoma last year, Landry was a star for three seasons at Louisiana, where she played for first-year Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco and alongside five Red Raiders players. On Monday, a group of people who she worked with and grew close with over the previous three years stands in the way of her and a national title appearance.
“I’m a completely different pitcher, person and player than I was when I was at Louisiana,” Landry said Sunday after Oklahoma’s elimination-game win against Oregon. “We’re still going to work it like any other game. Get the scout on them, find some holes and go through it. Keep it like any other game and not make it too big.”
Here’s a closer look at Landry’s ties to the Texas Tech program, including her time at Louisiana and why she didn’t follow Glasco to become a Red Raider:
Sam Landry Louisiana career
From virtually the moment she first stepped foot on a college diamond, Landry has been a difference-maker.
The Mont Belvieu, Texas native was an immediately impactful player for Glasco at Louisiana, where she went 20-3 with a 2.15 ERA as a freshman in 2022. Her win percentage led all Sun Belt pitchers.
She only got better from there.
As a sophomore in 2023, she led the Ragin’ Cajuns back to the NCAA tournament by earning most outstanding player honors at the Sun Belt tournament, where she struck out 18 batters and allowed only one run and three hits across 14 innings pitched. That same season, she threw a no-hitter against Lafayette while striking out a career-high 13 batters.
In her third and ultimately final season at Louisiana, she helped lead the program to yet another NCAA tournament appearance while winning 24 games, striking out 165 batters and earning first-team all-Sun Belt honors.
Why didn’t Sam Landry follow Gerry Glasco to Texas Tech?
Texas Tech’s roster is littered with several players who followed Glasco when he made the move from Louisiana to the Red Raiders.
Why wasn’t his star pitcher from the Ragin’ Cajuns one of them?
Landry had known Glasco since she was in middle school and he was coaching at a camp she attended with her team. She committed to him early, giving Louisiana a verbal pledge in February of her freshman year of high school. While with the Ragin’ Cajuns, she developed a strong bond with Glasco and his wife, Vickie, regularly visiting their house and even taking in one of their dogs, a beagle named Beaux. Glasco has described Landry as being “like a daughter to me.”
“They became my family out there,” Landry said to The Oklahoman. “They were the first people I called if anything went wrong. It wasn’t even from a softball standpoint; it was if something went wrong, Gerry is who I’m calling.”
When Glasco left Louisiana for Texas Tech after the 2024 season, it stood to reason that Landry might tag along with him to Lubbock, particularly once she entered the transfer portal on July 1.
At that time, though, the Red Raiders were among the programs pursuing Stanford transfer and reigning national player of the year NiJaree Canady. Texas Tech ended up signing Canady in late July — inking her to a million-dollar NIL deal — but even before that happened, Glasco knew there was at least a chance of landing arguably the sport’s best pitcher and didn’t want Landry to have her opportunities limited if she came to Texas Tech.
“I want you to be happy,” Glasco remembered telling her, according to The Oklahoman. “And I think I’ve got a chance at getting Nija Canady. My relationship with you … you’ve always been like the ace, and I don’t want to have a different relationship than that with you. It would be different, and I don’t want to take any chance on losing my friendship with you.”
Landry, who was pursued by many of the top programs in the sport, ultimately signed with Oklahoma, where she has been the Sooners’ ace. This season, she’s 25-5 with a 1.89 ERA and 180 strikeouts and made the all-SEC first team. She was recently the No. 1 pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft.
Glasco has thrived in his new home, as well. After inheriting a program that went 8-16 in the Big 12 last season, he has led Texas Tech to a program-record 52 wins and its first-ever WCWS appearance. At least some of that success has been thanks to Canady, who has a 32-5 record and 0.86 ERA.
“I think it was my time to kind of separate and be able to watch him coach from the outside and live his dream,” Landry said to The Oklahoman. “He’s coaching with one of his daughters right now, and I think it’s absolutely beautiful to see.”