Sam Landry of Oklahoma faces former TTU coach Gerry Glasco of WCWS

Sam Landry will enter the pitching circle at Devon Park in Oklahoma City on Monday, with the world weight on her shoulders.

The Oklahoma pitcher will have the task of helping keep the second-place second-place national champion dream, while she is in a match against No. 12 Texas Tech, which could be the first of two of the two games in the Women's College World Series.

When she did, she would compare with several familiar faces on the plate and on the other’s canoe.

Before arriving at Oklahoma last year, Landry was a star in Louisiana for three seasons, where she played with Gerry Glasco, a first-year Texas tech coach, with five Red Raiders players. On Monday, a group of people who worked with her and grew up with her over the past three years were with her and the national title.

"I'm a completely different pitcher, guy and player," Landry said after Oklahoma knockout Oregon. "We're still going to work like any other game. Grab their scouts, find some holes and browse it. Keep it like any other game, instead of making it too big."

Here is Landry’s connection to the Texas Tech Program, including her time in Louisiana and why she didn’t follow Glasco to become the Red Raider:

Sam Landry Louisiana Career

From the moment she first stepped into college diamonds, Landry was a differentiated person.

Mont Belvieu, Texas, is an instantly influential player in Glasco, Louisiana, where she scored 20-3 with the 2.15 ERA in 2022 with the 2.15 ERA.

She only got better from there.

As a sophomore in 2023, she won the most outstanding player honors at the Sun Belt Championship, leading Ragin'Cajuns back to the NCAA Championship where she beat 18 batsmen and allowed only one inning and three hits in 14 innings. In the same season, she made accessibility to Lafayette while hitting a career-high 13 batsmen.

In Louisiana's third and final final season, she helped the program debut in the NCAA Championship while winning 24 games, hitting 165 batsmen and earning full-line honors for the first-team roster.

Why didn’t Sam Landry follow Gerry Glasco to Texas Tech?

Texas Tech has several players on the roster who followed him when they moved from Louisiana to the Red Raiders.

Why doesn't his star pitcher come from one of the cajuns?

Landry has known Glasco since middle school, and he is joining a camp coach with her team. She worked on him early and offered Louisiana a verbal commitment in February of her first year of high school. While Ragin'Cajuns, she has built a strong bond with Glasco and his wife Vickie, visiting their house regularly, and even holding one of the dogs, a beagle named Beaux. Glasco described Landry as “like a daughter to me.”

"They became my family," Landry asked theukhohou ask.fm/. "If anything, I'm the first guys I've called. From a softball perspective, that's not even; if something goes wrong, Gerry is the guy I'm calling."

After the 2024 season, when Glasco left Louisiana for Texas Tech, there was reason to think Landry might be heading to Lubbock with him, especially once she entered the transfer portal on July 1.

But at the time, the Red Raiders were the plan to pursue Stanford transfer and dominate Player of the Year, Nijaree Canada. Texas Tech eventually signed Canady in late July, signing her into a one-million-dollar zero deal — but even before that happened, Glasco knew at least the chance to arguably be the best pitcher in the sport, and she didn't want Landry limited if she came to Texas Tech.

“I want you to be happy,” Glasco recalls. theukhohou ask.fm/. "And I think I have a chance to get Nija Canada. My relationship with you... You've always been like ace, I don't want to have a different relationship with you. It's going to be different, and I don't want to give you a chance to lose friendship."

Landry, who was pursuing many of the top programs in the sport, eventually signed with Oklahoma, has always been the sooners' ace. This season, she scored 25-5 with 1.89 ERA and 180 strikeouts and became the first team of the season. She was the No. 1 pick in the Athlete Infinity Softball League Draft recently.

Glasco also thrives in his new home. He led Texas Tech to a show record 52 wins and a first-ever WCWS game after inheriting a show that won 8-16 in Big 12 last season. At least some of the successes are attributed to the Canadian team's record of 32-5 and the ERA is 0.86.

Landry yes theukhohou ask.fm/. “He is coaching with one of his daughters right now and I think it’s absolutely beautiful to see it.”