WCWS roads converge for Sam Landry, NiJaree Canady to meet with high stakes

OKLAHOMA CITY – There is a domino effect with OU pitcher Sam Landry and Texas Tech star pitcher NiJaree Canady.

The common thread in the equation is head coach Gerry Glasco. He was the head coach for Landry, and now he is the head coach for Canady.

A 12-month timeline that now has all three vying for the same thing – a softball national championship.

Somebody will be one step closer following Monday night. OU takes on Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Monday on ESPN in the Women’s College World Series semifinals at Devon Park.

If the Sooners can win that game, OU will have to come back immediately and play the Red Raiders in a winner-take-all contest to determine who advances to the championship series.

No pressure. OU is in the semifinals for its ninth straight appearance. Texas Tech is in the middle of its first taste of OKC, 2-0 so far.

But it’s going to be Landry and Canady that go a long way toward determining who is moving on and who is going home.

“I think I’m a completely different pitcher, person, player than I was when I was at Louisiana,” Landry said. “We’re still going to work it like any other game, get the scout on them, find some holes and go through it. Just keep it like any other game and not make it too big.”

Landry and Glasco were together at Louisiana before Glasco left to take the head coaching spot in Lubbock. Out of nowhere, Landry needed to find a home.

She did that and then some, arriving in Norman and becoming the ace. Landry has been the one called upon repeatedly throughout this postseason run, imagine it will be that way Monday.

For Landry to get to where she wants to go, she’ll have to knock out a familiar face. And everything that comes with it – all the emotions.

“I don’t think a lot of the girls on our team know about my history with him and the girls there,” Landry told SoonerScoop. “It’s such a — God is so good to have us all here at the same place and to be able to play.

“I’m excited, like I said earlier. We’ll have a family reunion after the game. We’re here to do a job. So super excited for them, excited for this team.”

Canady decided to transfer from Stanford. Many thought, at least initially, that OU would be the easy connecting of the dots.

Instead, Texas Tech and Glasco was the pick. And Canady has lived up to the expectations, despite how lofty they have been.

Canady has an 0.86 ERA with a 32-5 record. She has thrown 20 complete games with seven shutouts. A whopping 219 innings with just 27 earned runs and 296 strikeouts.

Oh yea, and this year she got to bat some. She is hitting .306 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs. That’s 11 home runs in just 30 hits.

During the Super Regional upset at Florida State and the first two games in OKC? Canady has thrown every single pitch. All 28 innings, a 4-0 mark, allowing two runs with 24 strikeouts.

Canady going to Lubbock opened the door for Landry to become a Sooner for her final season. Landry has been as cool, calm and collected as you could ask for. But Monday will be different. Gasso is hoping, though, it’s the same Landry.

“I’ve got to work on that,” OU head coach Patty Gasso said. “That’s a good question. I really hope that she — she’s so different. She’s quite different. She’s quite a different pitcher than she was and she really, really showcased — she threw really well tonight. Really well.

“I hope that will carry over for her and just really have tunnel vision and blinders on and just not worry so much on that side but more about her girls on her side.”

The winner will take on either Tennessee or Texas in the WCWS championship series. OU, of course, has won the last four national championships.

OU defeated Canady twice in the 2023 WCWS. She was a freshman at Stanford, and OU had one of the greatest teams ever assembled.

The stage is set for some sort of history Monday night in Oklahoma City.