Dynastic, unstoppable, dominant — the Oklahoma Sooners softball team has long been synonymous with greatness. Leading into the 2025 season, they secured four consecutive National Championships. With expectations for their dominance to wane, many anticipated a rebuilding year for this iconic program.
However, Sam Landry in the pitching circle has defied all such predictions, cementing the Sooners’ place as a relentless force in collegiate softball.
In what was supposed to be a year filled with challenges and rebuilding, the emergence of the Louisiana transfer pitcher helped the Sooners remain among the elite in the sport. In the Sooners’ first season in the vaunted SEC, Landry was a major reason why the Sooners earned both the regular-season and conference tournament championships.
But whatever you do, don’t refer to Landry as the Sooners’ ace.
“I think the term ace just kind of sets one person apart, and I don’t think that’s what softball is about,” Landry said. “It is a team sport. So, I’m here for the entire staff, and I think we have a very deep staff.”
In a year when Landry was named the 2025 SEC Newcomer of the Year, earned first-team All-SEC honors, and was selected to the SEC All-Defensive Team, she isn’t interested in talking about individual awards. Instead, she focuses on the success of a team of fresh faces that thrived thanks to a team-first mentality. With eight incoming freshmen and five additions from the transfer portal, including Landry, there was plenty of new in 2025.
“I think at the beginning of the fall, it was kind of challenging, because you have so many different people from different backgrounds,” Landry said. “Everybody was coming from different places.
“After all the practices, always being around each other, you slowly start mingling. That’s helped us get to know each other and want to be there for each other. Everyone is everybody’s biggest cheerleader on that field, so it’s super exciting to watch.”
Landry comes from a large family as one of six siblings. Her family has been a driving force behind her consistency, commitment and success.
“I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without any of them, especially my siblings,” Landry said of her family. “You know they’ve always pushed me to be who I truly am. My parents are my rock. They have sacrificed so much for me to be where I am, and I’m trying to repay them in every way I can.”
Her parents were there for Landry through everything, including success, disappointment, adversity and even injury. But sometimes, it takes more than family, which Landry discovered after an injury during her freshman season of high school. Landry tore her ACL playing basketball. Some schools moved on from Landry in the recruitment process, but one stayed strong.
“It was definitely a mental struggle, hearing coaches that you had fallen in love with their school, with their program, with them as people and they would just say, we’re going to wait till you’re back to see how you are,” Landry said of the ACL injury. “That’s where Coach Gerry Glasco stepped in for me because he was saying you’re going to be fine when you come back. He never stopped supporting and recruiting me. He is a father figure, grandfather figure, whatever you want to call him, but I love him.”
Glasco, then the coach at Louisiana Lafayette, stayed committed to Landry. She played her first three years of college softball in Lafayette, excelling in the circle.
“Sam is really special, she can really spin it,” Glasco said of the Sooner standout. “She became family to me and my wife and all of us. I remember her calling when she got to Oklahoma and was letting us know she wasn’t going to be able to wear 12 in honor of Geri Ann, which shows you how special of a kid she is.”
The number 12 was something Landry had always worn in tribute to the Glasco’s youngest daughter, who tragically died in a traffic accident in 2019.
Landry carried that number with an incredible three-year run at Louisiana-Lafayette, but after her third season, she and her coach decided it was time for a change. As Landry entered the transfer portal, Glasco took the head coach’s job at Texas Tech. While Tech was definitely an option for Landry and her pitching future, Glasco had garnered a commitment from NiJaree Canady, and he knew Landry was destined for more than the opportunity she could have in Lubbock. And in the end, so did Landry.
“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. “He’s coaching with one of his daughters right now, and I think it’s absolutely beautiful to see.”
Landry chose Oklahoma.
Her impact at both Louisiana and now Oklahoma has truly transcended the numbers. Her ability to inspire and elevate the players around her has been just as critical as her dominance in the circle. Coaches and teammates alike have praised her dedication, work ethic and unwavering commitment to the team’s success. Her leadership has helped the Sooners stay united and focused during a season many expected to be challenging. Most impressive might be how she has rewritten some challenging chapters in her story against old foes.
The 2024 season and Landry’s career with the Rajin Cajuns ended at the hands of Baylor. She faced Baylor four times during the 2024 season and lost three of the four appearances despite only giving up four earned runs in 13 2/3 innings. Baylor beat the Rajin Cajuns to end the season in a winner-takes-all game in Regionals.
Against the Bears in a Sooner uniform this season, Landry threw a perfect game, needing only 56 pitches (42 strikes) to shut out Baylor.
“It was very rewarding in itself with how our season last year ended, to lose to them and then being able to come out with this team and throw my game, throw what I’m capable of, and rely on my teammates,” Landry said. “That perfect game would not have been possible without an amazing defense behind me.”
Landry also rewrote her personal story against the LSU Tigers. During her time at Louisiana, Landry went 2-3 against the Tigers and, in 16 2/3 innings, gave up 18 hits and 15 runs, 10 of which were earned. In the SEC Tournament opener, Landry pitched an absolute masterpiece, shutting down the Tigers with a complete game, allowing just one run while striking out seven.
“I am such a different pitcher than I have been in the past, and I think Coach (Jen) Rocha knows me better than almost anybody now,” Landry said of her pitching coach. “She knows what she’s doing.”
Sooner pitching coach Jen Rocha has been a major part of not only Landry’s journey but for the Sooners as a whole. In her 7th season at Oklahoma, Rocha has been the architect of the Sooner pitching staff, which helped lead the Sooners to four straight national titles.
“She absolutely cares about anybody, and she is the first one to tell you that this sport does not define who you are as a person,” Landry said of Rocha. “She has empowered me so much in that realm.
“After a recent tough game, I was having trouble getting over it mentally. She sent me a Bible verse, and I think that speaks so much to her as a person and how it is always the person before the game every day.”
It has been an incredible season for Landry, filled with success and deserved accolades. In addition to being named All-Conference and the SEC Newcomer of the Year, Landry has been honored as the pitcher of the week on three different occasions and was on the list of 25 finalists for the National Play of the Year. But it hasn’t come without adversity. An injury knocked Landry out of the first weekend of conference play, forcing her to watch from the sidelines.
“It was definitely a very frustrating time, because I thought I was going to be released right before that first SEC weekend,” Landry said of the injury. “But that wasn’t in God’s plans, and he had me sit out a little bit longer. I think it was good for our pitching staff as a whole. I think everybody got really good work that weekend, and I think it built our pitching staff.”
Landry has developed into one of the best pitchers in college softball. While she does not like to be referred to as the ace, there is no doubt that Landry has showcased “ace like” abilities. But don’t mistake her low-key, almost laid-back approach for someone without fire. Normally, Landry can be viewed as fairly mild-mannered in the circle, but when she gets fired up, it leaves an impression.
“When the lion starts coming out, there’s no controlling it,” Landry said. “So if the scream comes out, it comes out and there was no explanation or reason behind it.”
In the world of sports, moments of transition often are loaded with uncertainty, but for the Oklahoma Sooners, the transition into the SEC has been seamless, thanks in part to the remarkable presence of Sam Landry. While the final chapter is yet to be written, this season’s story is one of confronting and embracing greatness.– BSM
By Chris Plank
