While Bedlam just doesn't seem wanted by other sports, Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso believes it's a need for her softball team this season.
The No. 2 Sooners will play the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowgirls at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday night at Devon Park in Oklahoma City for the only scheduled Bedlam game of the college softball season. There's no longer a three-game weekend series between the rivals since OU left the Big 12 for the SEC.
OU coach Patty Gasso explains how Bedlam game can benefit Sooners
The Sooners enter the matchup on a three-game winning streak at 34-3. The Cowgirls are 23-11 and just dropped a Big 12 series to Arizona.
The last time these rivals met on a softball diamond, the Cowgirls took two of three from the Sooners at Love's Field. It was the first time OSU ever won a three-game weekend series over OU and likely the last series between the two for the foreseeable future.
However, most of Gasso's roster wasn't around for that loss. Nor were most of her current players a part of any of the four straight national titles. OU had to replace 13 players from last year's national championship roster, including five starters.
The Sooners haven't played at Devon Park, formerly Hall of Fame Stadium and home of the Women's College World Series, since winning their fourth national championship in a row last year. So while Gasso will be right at home on third base at Devon Park, it will be an unfamiliar place for most of her players.
Wednesday night's game is a sellout, and unlike the full crowds at Love's Field, not everyone will be wearing crimson. It's as close as Gasso can get to replicating a Women's College World Series environment for the players who have never experienced it.
“I’m really excited for our team to feel the energy at the Hall of Fame Stadium,” Gasso said at Tuesday's press conference. “It will feel like a World Series game, and that’s something we need to keep feeling because three-fourths of our team have not felt this before. I'm looking forward to that.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge at the plate, for sure. OSU is very good. They're all well-rounded -- speed, good hitters, lots of ways to score.”