In sports and life there are moments - a heartbeat, a breath and it's gone. But then there are those certain moments, the ones where your heart skips instead of beats and a breath turns into a memory you won't ever forget. This weekend was one of those moments for Texas Tech softball when they secured the first Big 12 Championship in program history in front of their home crowd at Rocky Johnson Field in Lubbock.

"We won five in a row at Louisiana but I never got to be a part of anything like that," explained Glasco after enjoying a near hour long postgame celebration with players, family and friends on the field. "It felt like a dream to win the Big 12...the fans all here. It gives me chills thinking about this experience, being out there with the players and the fans all interacting."

A coach who had 300 wins and five conference championships coming into the season, had chills after winning his sixth because this one was different. It wasn't continuing a legacy of success already built at Louisiana, this was doing something that had never been done at Texas Tech, a program who has only made the postseason six times in total and never won a conference title - and this team will do both in year one.

When Glasco took over this program in late June, everyone told him "why would anyone leave Louisiana for a program like Texas Tech...you can't recruit to Lubbock Texas."

Glasco's response back in June? "Yeah? Okay? Let's see."

Consider it seen as his team, comprised of nine true freshmen, nine transfers and three lone returners, found a way to mesh together and take a program to heights it has never seen all in a nine month whirlwind span.

"It's more about them. I only know one way to coach and they adjusted well. Give the credit to the girls," said Glasco when asked how this team was able to find that all important chemistry so quickly as a new team. "I think the common denominator is everyone wants to win. They want to win, and when you want to win badly enough you can adjust to whatever it takes."

Mother nature wanted to show off a little on Friday so the night's game was moved to a double header on Saturday. Annoying perhaps for some teams, but this wasn't the first time this happened so add it to the list of mental hurdles this team has grown up through.

Okay bet they said once again as they took control in the third inning scoring six runs, capped by a Lauren Allred two-RBI double and Alana Johnson two-run home run.

With NiJaree Canady in the circle, a six run lead was a mere formality as she handled business the inning to follow with ease and finished the game with a line of four innings pitched and only one hit allowed while striking out five. Chloe Riassetto entered in the top of the fifth in relief and put up a clean inning of work herself to set the stage for a story-book bottom half of the inning.

The scoreboard was lacking of drama but the timeline was not as Demi Elder stepped up to the plate with a runner on base. Sometimes what's meant to be is meant to be and the lone four year Red Raider on this team, a player who has been through three different coaching changes in her tenure at Texas Tech, crushed one to right field to run-rule walk off the game and clinch (at the time) at least a share of the first Big 12 Championship in school history.

Delayed not denied, memory not a moment.

There was only a mild celebration though, this team had their sights on the outright title and that meant winning game two of the day that followed a half hour later. With rain sneaking it's way in during the early innings it was a tense, postseason level atmosphere with clutch moments from both sides both pitching and defensively.

On the Texas Tech end it was Riassetto that put together one of her best performances of the season in a duel with Arizona State ace Kenzie Brown who leads the Big 12 in strikeouts. Riassetto would ultimately go 5.1 innings in this, allowing only four hits, no runs and striking out four before Canady came on in relief as they traded roles from the game one win.

"Chloe is a money pitcher, she's a big game pitcher," said Glasco. "She loves the big moments, she is made for those moments. Her and NiJa together, it's just great."

Behind the work of Riassetto and Canady in the circle the game went into the sixth inning in a 0-0 deadlock. And it felt like it was going to stay that way headed to the seventh when Arizona State made a ridiculous diving grab at second base to rob a lead off hit from Bailey Lindemuth and Alexa Langeliers fouled out to the catcher to put the second out on the board.

A two-out rally, with no one on base to clinch an outright Big 12 title against one of the best pitchers in the country? Okay bet. This time it started with a Allred hit-by-pitch, clutch single from Johnson down the left field line and a steady as ever walk from Elder to load the bases.

Setting the stage for Raegan Jennings to drive in the game winning run on a two-out RBI single to left. A player that, as a sophomore, isn't an everyday starter on this team but isn't lacking in trust from her head coach regardless as he had her in the lineup on this day for a reason.

"Raegan is a great hitter, she gets big hits - she's done it all year long," Glasco told media when asked about this pivotal at-bat postgame. "I wanted her in the lineup against Brown because she matches up with the rise ball, her and Alana Johnson really match up with a rise ball pitcher as well as anyone on our roster and they both came through in that big inning, it was huge."

Vic Valdez followed Jennings with a clutch hit of her own and soon enough Texas Tech held a 3-0 lead headed to the top of the seventh, needing only three outs to get their seventh Big 12 series win of the season. Light work for the nation's leader in ERA Canady who put the Sun Devils down in order, striking out two and cementing Texas Tech as the 2025 outright Big 12 Softball Champions.

Also a big credit to Associate Head Coach Tara Archibald who stepped in as the acting manager, after Glasco was tossed on a controversial call in the first inning. She handled an intense game with the poise you would expect from a former head coach herself to lead the team to victory the rest of the way, a luxury having her on the bench in this undoubtedly. This also set up for yet another movie worthy moment when Glasco, who had watched the game from his office in the clubhouse just outside of the stadium, emerged from the left field gate - Big 12 Trophy in hand - as the Matador Song played out in the stadium and the team rushed to mob him in celebration.

This new era of Red Raider Softball has lofty dreams, and they have no plans for this to be the only celebration of this nature. But it will always be the first. No one can take that away from this team and in a world that is forever worried about what's next, it was pretty special to just watch everyone involved take a beat to soak it all in on Saturday.

Memory, not a moment, made.

Tech returns to play on Tuesday with a mid-week versus Abilene Christian in Lubbock at 5 PM. The team has hopes to host a regional come NCAA tournament time but for now this is the final home game on the schedule in 2025 so be there.

Following that they will hop a plane to Provo, Utah for their final Big 12 series of the season as they take on BYU Thursday - Saturday.

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