Breaking News: Texas Tech Hires Loyola Marymount Head Coach Sami Strinz-Ward

Extra Inning Softball has learned that Sami Strinz-Ward, the three-time WCC Coach of the Year at Loyola Marymount, has been named as the new Texas Tech head softball coach.

According to one reliable source: “It was announced to the (Texas Tech) team a few minutes ago,” around 11 am CT.

Strinz-Ward replaces Adrian Gregory who resigned on Sept. 22, 2020. Gregory resigned prior to the release of a report detailing the findings of an internal review of the softball program, according to the Texas Tech athletics site.

The 2021 season would have been Coach Ward’s sixth year as the head coach of the Loyola Marymount Lions softball team where she played as a pitcher/DP.

Here is her bio info as listed on the LMU softball page Friday morning.

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Strinz-Ward was named the seventh head coach in program history on June 3, 2015. She initially returned to her alma mater in June 2014 as an assistant coach, and in January 2015 was promoted to the title of Associate Head Coach.

“It is always exciting to be able to name an alum to a coaching position,” said former LMU Director of Athletics Dr. Bill Husak in 2015.”In Sami, we have someone who understands LMU and what we aspire to achieve in winning championships, graduating our students and helping them to become better people.”

In 2020, Strinz-Ward navigated LMU softball through the Covid-19 pandemic and the cancellation of the season after just 23 games. The Lions were unable to play the final 30 games of the season, including any of the team’s WCC matchups. The highlight of the shortened season was the back-to-back wins against ranked programs to open the Judy Garman Classic in Fullerton. LMU pitched a complete game shutout to top #4 LSU on Feb. 27 then returned the following day for a 2-1 come-from-behind win over #13 Michigan on Feb. 28.

Strinz-Ward closed out the 2019 season with LMU’s second-consecutive NISC Tournament appearance and Regional Tournament title after leading the Lions to a 40-21 overall record. The Lions finished second in the West Coast Conference after going 11-4 in conference play. Strinz-Ward was named WCC Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, her third time receiving the award in the last four years. Seven Lions were named to the All-WCC Team, while six athletes received WCC Player of the Week Awards during the 2019 campaign.

In 2018, Strinz-Ward led the Lions to a 34-24-1 record (11-3 WCC), a second-place finish in the West Coast Conference, and a Postseason NISC tournament Championship. After the regular season wrapped up, Strinz-Ward and Loyola Marymount made it into the NISC tournament and won the Northern Colorado Regional Championship before hosting and winning the tournament Championship at home on Smith Field. She was named the 2018 WCC Coach of the Year following the successful regular season.

During her first two seasons at the program’s helm, Strinz-Ward guided the Lions to a 52-52 record, including a second-place finish in the WCC in 2016, when she was also named the WCC Co-Coach of the Year. Seven members of the Lions earned All-WCC honors in 2016, while five players earned all-conference honors in 2017. During the 2016 season, the Lions led the nation in doubles (106) and doubles per game (2.00), while Alicia Brown finished with a single-season record 20 two-baggers, and Meghan von Behren led the league with a .421 batting average.

While serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Strinz-Ward helped guide the Lions to a second-place finish in the West Coast Conference in 2015. Working closely with the pitching staff, she guided lefty Rachael Farrington to a 20-15 record, 2.90 ERA, six shutouts, and .291 opponent’s batting average. Those numbers led the sophomore First Team All-WCC selection to be named LMU’s Female Most Improved Athlete of the Year after she had posted a 6-11 record, 4.81 ERA, and .339 opponent’s batting average a year earlier.

Before she returned to Los Angeles and LMU, Strinz-Ward spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons as co-head coach for the NCAA Division II Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She led the Urban Knights in their first year competing as an NCAA institution and, over the two-year span, developed four Pac West All-Conference honorees, four PWC Players of the Week, eight PWC All-Academic honorees, and one Capital One Academic All-District Team member. Her 2013 squad led the PWC in saves, while her 2014 team broke the program’s single-season doubles record. During her tenure, the school’s career RBI record was broken and set not once, but twice.

Strinz-Ward is no stranger to the West Coast Conference as she was on staff at Saint Mary’s in 2012, helping lead the Gaels to the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Coastal Division Championship. Prior to SMC, Strinz-Ward spent four seasons (2008-11) coaching at the University of North Dakota, leading the Fighting Sioux to their first conference championship in program history in 2010 and helped the program put up all-time offensive numbers in runs scored, hits, home runs, stolen bases and walks.

Her coaching resume also includes two years as the head coach at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota and a single season as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech.

A pitcher and utility player throughout her career in a Lion uniform, Strinz-Ward’s name remains scattered throughout the LMU record book. She ranks in the career top 10 in at bats (633), hits (192), RBIs (110), doubles (34), home runs (29), pitching appearances (110), wins (42), complete games (30), saves (4), innings pitched (438.2), strikeouts (223) and ERA (2.28)

Strinz-Ward was named PCSC Player of the Year in 2003, leading the Lions to the league’s inaugural championship. LMU was the PCSC runner-up in her senior season in 2004. She earned All-Western Athletic Conference honors in 2002, and was a back-to-back first-team All-PSCS pick in 2003 and 2004. She also earned NFCA All-Region honors in 2003 and 2004.

A native of Keizer, Oregon, Strinz-Ward earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a minor in sociology from LMU in 2004. She went on to earn her Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Dakota Wesleyan University in 2008.

Strinz-Ward and her husband, Randy Ward, have two daughters, Ryli and Hayli.