Oklahoma softball returned to the Sooner State for its home opener this weekend after three weeks on the road to start the 2026 college softball season.
The Sooners are 14-2 and ranked No. 5 in this week's ESPN / USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll after a 15-game season-opening tour through the Pacific and Mountain time zones.
The defending SEC title holder and eight-time national champions Sooners will host Alabama State, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana for six games at Love's Field from Thursday through Sunday. The Sooners will play Alabama State three times, Sam Houston State twice and close out the home weekend with a single game against SE Louisiana on Sunday.
Oklahoma has never lost a home opener under head coach Patty Gasso --that's 31-0, if you're counting -- and that marked improved to 32-0 after the Sooners' 32-0 ironic thumping of Alabama State on Thursday.
Patty Gasso built something unstoppable at Oklahoma’s new home
Gasso said beforehand that the team was ready to be home, and it's easy to understand why when you consider the Sooners have won 95% of their home games over the past decade.
"I think they slowly pulled things out of their suitcase," Gasso said during Tuesday's press conference. "Get it emptied. Get your suitcase out of your sight and let's know that we're home for three weekends.
This will be the third season for Oklahoma in its new ballpark, Love's Field. For 26 seasons before the Sooners moved into their new venue in 2024, they played at Marita Hynes Field. Over the past 10 seasons, the past two of which have been at Love's Field, Oklahoma has won 215 of the 227 games played at home. In two season at Love's Field, the Sooners are an equally impressive 51-6.
Love's Field is a much larger facility than OU's previous home field. Love's Field is the largest stadium in college softball, holding a capacity of 4,200, which is highly reflective of the dynasty-like success of Oklahoma softball over the past decade. Love's Field is over twice the size of Marita Hynes Field, which had a listed seating capacity 1,378.
"I had one of the best teams that ever played at OU ( the 2024 national championship team) that could not get situated here because of the noise, and it's so loud," Gasso said of Love's Field's atmosphere. "You can only imagine how that must affect opponents who have to play there."
It's not like anything most players will experience unless they are fortunate enough to make it to Devon Park and the Women's College World Series, which, incidentally, is in Oklahoma City, only about a half-hour's drive from Love's Field.