Tag: Love’s Field

Oklahoma Softball Championship celebration open to the public

Oklahoma to host championship celebration at Love’s Field. Festivities are open to the public.

The Oklahoma Sooners made history with their fourth-consecutive national championship. It is the first time in the history of the sport that a program has won four straight.

Oklahoma did so with an 8-4 win over the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns on Thursday evening. It’s the second time in three years that OU won the title in the championship series over their Red River Rivals. In the two-game sweep, the bats came alive, outscoring the Horns 16-7.

It was the most watched Women’s College World Series Finals ever.

To celebrate [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag] and her championship squad, the University of Oklahoma is hosting a celebration at [autotag]Love’s Field[/autotag] Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT, which is open to the public. For those not able to be in attendance, fans can stream the celebration live on SoonerSports.com.

Details for the celebration can be found below from the University of Oklahoma Athletic Department.

From the University of Oklahoma Athletic Department

Fans Invited to Championship Celebration Saturday

NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma softball team invites fans to celebrate the program’s fourth straight and eighth overall national title Saturday, June 8, at 6 p.m. CT at Love’s Field. Gates will open at 5 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Reserved seating for season ticket holders will be general admission in sections 6-10 with passes accessible later today (Friday) via their ticket account. Public parking will be available in the Lloyd Noble Center lot.

Fans will have the opportunity to take photos with the national championship trophy from 5-6 p.m. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a championship poster.

Programming is set to begin at approximately 6 p.m. and fans will hear from head coach Patty Gasso, members of the team and more. National championship merchandise will be available for purchase from the Sooner Shop and limited concessions will be available. Fans are permitted to bring one clear, empty, plastic water bottle (17 oz. or less) and OU’s clear-bag policy will be in effect for the event.

Fans who can’t be in attendance can watch the celebration via https://soonersports.com/watch/.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma Softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter/X and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.

‘It was a day in history that I’ll never forget’: Patty Gasso reflects on the grand opening of Love’s Field

Patty Gasso talks about how special this past weekend was for her as Oklahoma debuted a new softball stadium.

While the weekend wasn’t a perfect one for the Oklahoma Sooners as they lost their first game of the season in the final game of a five-game homestand, it was still a magical one. The Sooners finally opened their brand new state-of-the-art stadium last Friday.

[autotag]Love’s Field[/autotag] is the largest on-campus softball stadium in the country and there isn’t a team in the country that deserves it more than the back-to-back-to-back national champions. It also shows just how much the sport has grown over the years and will continue to grow.

Patty Gasso shared in her press conference on Tuesday about the new facility. “It was a day in history that I’ll never forget,” Gasso said. “This has been a dream come true: Love’s Field. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was going to feel like, unfortunately. We’ve got to let the workers keep working, and they let us on the field, and the whole project shut down. Friday was a little bit scary. We were a little bit tight. We all would admit that. We felt like we were living in a dream.”

Now, the Sooners have gotten a few games under their belt in their new stadium. That should help them loosen up and play great softball like the fans are accustomed to seeing. But even with the loss, it shouldn’t take away from the special weekend it was and just how far coaches like Patty Gasso have brought the sport of softball during their tenures.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

WATCH: Oklahoma Softball time lapse video of Love’s Field construction

Watch Oklahoma’s time lapse construction of the newly opened Love’s Field.

The grand opening of Love’s marked a seminal moment in the world of college softball. The $48 million, 4,200-seat stadium is the result of decades of success and the incredible growth of the Oklahoma Softball program and the sport as a whole.

On social media, the Oklahoma Sooners released a time-lapse video showing the start-to-finish construction of the incredible facility, culminating in Kinzie Hansen’s walk-off home run in the opener.

The Oklahoma Sooners take a 70-game winning streak into their final two games of the OU Tournament, taking on Liberty on Saturday afternoon.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Best photos from Oklahoma Sooners opening day at Love’s Field

The Oklahoma Sooners had a memorable day in the grand opening of Love’s Field and here are some of the best photos from the festivities.

The day lived up to the hype. The Oklahoma Sooners continued their incredible run to open Love’s Field like only they could do.

In their first game inside Love’s Field, Oklahoma needed a little Sooner Magic after Miami (OH) tied the game in the top of the seventh. And of course, it was the captain, [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] who provided the game-winning two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning.

More: Sooners beat Miami 9-7 in walk-off fashion to open Love’s Field

The second game of the day was an 8-0 win in run-rule fashion, the style of win we’ve grown accustomed to with the Sooners during their three-plus years of dominance.

In both games, [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] hit a home run to continue an impressive start to her Oklahoma Sooners career.

As their record win streak hit 69 games, the Sooners ushered in a new era of Oklahoma Softball. With 4,450 fans in attendance, the sport reached new heights, creating even more buzz for a program that’s at the top of the sport.

More: Social media reacts to Sooners Opening Day at Love’s Field

Social media reacts to Sooners walk-off win in Love’s Field grand opening

Social media reacts to the Oklahoma Sooners walk-off 9-7 win over Miami in the grand opening of Love’s Field.

The wait was well worth it as the Oklahoma Sooners provided more magic in the grand opening of Love’s Field.

Up against a game Miami Red Hawks squad, the Sooners were pushed several times throughout the seven-inning thriller. And once again, as they’ve done for more than a year now, the Oklahoma Sooners found a way to win.

There were a number of contributions throughout the contest as OU battled back from a 3-0 deficit in the first to go ahead 7-3 to enter the seventh. But ast Miami (OH) tied the game on three straight home runs in the top of the seventh, it was [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] that provided the magic for Oklahoma in the bottom half of the inning.

Hansen ended the dramatic Love’s Field opener with a two-run shot to win the game and keep the Sooners undefeated season and record win-streak intact.

Here’s how social media reacted to the win.

Oklahoma Sooners walk off opener at Love’s Field, 9-7 over Miami (OH)

It didn’t start off great but Oklahoma rallied for a 9-7 walk-off win in their first game at Love’s Field.

The Oklahoma Sooners played their first game at their new home. [autotag]Love’s Field[/autotag], the nation’s largest on-campus softball stadium, is the new home of the Sooners.

Things didn’t start well for the Sooners. The nation’s leader in home runs, the Miami (OH) Redhawks, hit back-to-back home runs off [autotag]Nicole May[/autotag] in the top of the 1st inning to get things started. The Redhawks led 3-0 after the top of the 1st. The Sooners loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the 1st but only managed to score one run on an [autotag]Ella Parker[/autotag] sacrifice fly that scored [autotag]Jayda Coleman[/autotag]. Miami (OH) led 3-1 after one.

The 2nd inning was all about clutch pitching. Both pitchers were able to get out of two on jams.

The bottom of the 4th inning looked like it was going to be a big one. [autotag]Rylie Boone[/autotag] and [autotag]Kinzie Hansen[/autotag] started things off by putting runners on second and third respectively with no outs. [autotag]Alynah Torres[/autotag] grounded out but was able to score Boone. Right after that, Miami (OH) struck out [autotag]Cydney Sanders[/autotag] and got Coleman to pop out to only allow one run. The Redhawks led 3-2 after four.

[autotag]Karlie Keeney[/autotag] made quick work in the 5th inning and then [autotag]Alyssa Brito[/autotag] hit the first Sooners’ home run at Love’s Field to tie the game up at three heading to the 6th inning.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, [autotag]Riley Ludlam[/autotag] came in as a pinch hitter and hit a single up the middle that scored Hansen to give the Sooners their first lead. The very next at-bat, Coleman hit a two-run shot to give the Sooners a 6-3 lead. But they weren’t done there because in the very next at-bat freshman [autotag]Kasidi Pickering[/autotag] hit a solo shot to right field. The Sooners headed to the 7th inning with a 7-3 lead and needed three outs to improve to 15-0 on the season.

Keeney allowed back-to-back-to-back home runs to Miami to tie the game at seven with no outs in the inning. Keeney recovered to retire the side, setting the game up for another heroic moment.

The Sooners needed someone to step up and it was two of their veterans who did it. Boone started things off with a single before Hansen hit a walk-off two-run home run to win the game and extend Oklahoma’s winning streak to 68 and open Love’s Field with a huge win.

The Sooners face Liberty in the night cap of their double-header in their new home.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Love’s Field marks new beginnings built on historic success

Love’s Field ushers in new era of Oklahoma Sooners softball built on success of Patty Gasso and OU teams of the past and present.

The Oklahoma Sooners will host the OU Tournament this weekend in Norman. They’ll carry a 67-game winning streak into the weekend, looking to extend it to 72.

They’ll try to make it just another day at the ballpark. But for Patty Gasso and the Oklahoma Sooners softball program, today is unlike any other they’ve experienced.

The Sooners’ living legend of a head coach has created a dynasty at Oklahoma but is still taken aback by what she and her program have accomplished with the move to Love’s Field.

“I don’t know what to tell you about Love’s Field, because it’s still a dream,” Gasso told reporters earlier this week. “Until the first pitch is thrown is when I will really pinch myself.”

Friday marks the grand opening of Love’s Field, the 4,200-seat stadium built on the sweat equity and success of Gasso and the Sooners. Success that has come over almost three decades at the University of Oklahoma.

Gasso, who helped move Oklahoma from Reaves Park in Norman to Marita Hynes Field, will usher the Sooners and their passionate fan base into a stadium that will triple the capacity of their previous home. As she considers what this means for her team and for softball, Gasso reflects back on how far they’ve come.

“I think of the 2000 team,” Gasso said. “I think of the team that was over at Reaves and never got a locker room. … I think about those athletes that are alums but never got to experience this. So what we’re really trying to do is embrace all of our alumni and say, ‘You’ve all built this.’

The Sooners have had the best home-field advantage in softball for years now. Sooner softball has long been the hottest ticket of the spring, made even more sought after during their three-plus-year reign atop the college softball world.

But it isn’t just the recent success that’s driven the need for greater fan capacity in the softball capital of the world. It’s the success that Gasso has had over three decades in Norman, compiling seven national championships with a team that’s been a huge part of the growth of the sport across the country.

And although she’s seen the stadium while it progressed to completion, Gasso’s looking forward to seeing Love’s Field with a capacity crowd.

“I wasn’t supposed to, but I couldn’t help it,” Gasso said. “And it is an absolute ‘wow factor’ empty. I can’t even imagine when you get excited Sooners fans in there what this is going to be like. I think we all feel a little anxious about it because we just don’t know what it’s going to play like, what it’s going to feel like. We may not know that until the first pitch.”

For many in the softball world, this isn’t a significant step for the Oklahoma Sooners, but for the sport. It’s another step in growing the game across the country and around the world. And as the Sooners throw the first pitch at the $48 million Love’s Field, it will be a pitch heard around the world.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Athletic Director Joe Castiglione gives update on OU Softball’s Love’s Field

Everything seems to be on schedule as Joe Castiglione gives an update on Love’s Field before opening day.

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team is less than a month away from the beginning of the 2024 season. They’ll have a shot to extend their NCAA record 53-game winning streak. The Sooners have also won three straight national titles, which has only been done one other time (1988-1990 UCLA Bruins).

No program has ever won four straight national titles, but the Sooners have all of the ingredients to be the first. Oklahoma also has some more exciting news to look forward to this year. They are opening a new stadium, [autotag]Love’s Field[/autotag].

Last week, Athletic Director Joe Castiglione spoke about the progress of the stadium and whether it will be ready for opening day. “I drove through there with one of my deputies yesterday (Thursday) and they are working feverishly and have a March 1st functional occupancy deadline,” Castiglione said. “That everyone knows because that’s the first official game that will be played at Love’s Field.”

Castiglione added the workers were out putting in seats and the scoreboard recently. The Sooners played at the OU Softball Complex since it opened its doors in 1998. It was later named [autotag]Marita Hynes Field[/autotag] in 2004 for all of her contributions to the program.

Marita Hynes seats about 1,400 people, whereas Love’s Field is going to seat 4,200 people. That’s three times as many in attendance for your national champion softball program.

It’s a much-needed upgrade for one of the best programs of all time and for a sport that continues to grow in the state of Oklahoma.

The Sooners start the season on Feb. 8, 2024, with a couple of tournaments before they play their first home game in their new stadium on March 1, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. CT against Miami (OH).

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Oklahoma Softball announces stadium capacity for Love’s Field

University of Oklahoma announced seating capacity for Love’s Field that’s set to open in 2024.

The Oklahoma Sooners softball team has created a dynasty and now are on the verge of beginning play in a state-of-the-art softball facility during the 2024 season.

On Friday, the University of Oklahoma announced the final seating capacities for Love’s Field.

“Since the start, we’ve approached the design of Love’s Field with our fans in mind,” said athletic director [autotag]Joe Castiglione[/autotag] in the OU Athletic Department’s release. “Because we know the demand for OU Softball is sky high, we took great care to increase the capacity wherever we could while maintaining the overall fan experience. We’re thrilled with the results, as we’ve shattered our original expected capacity of about 3,000, now with 3,543 in fixed seating and an additional 657 in standing room. At every home game, we’ll now have the opportunity for more than 4,000 Sooner fans to cheer our team to victory in the biggest and best collegiate softball stadium in the country.”

Marita Hynes Field currently runs with a seated capacity of 1,378. Including standing room capabilities, Love’s Field will triple the attendance capabilities for Oklahoma Softball in the future.

Led by head coach [autotag]Patty Gasso[/autotag], the Oklahoma Sooners have won three straight national championships and six of the last 10 titles. She’s led Oklahoma to seven overall. That success has helped create an incredible buzz surrounding the sport of softball across the country.

“When we were standing above the outfield looking toward home plate, we were in awe,” said Gasso during a tour of the construction site. “It was hard to comprehend the beauty and scope of what we were looking at, considering where we played when I started coaching here. I stood there and reflected on all my years at OU and all the athletes who laid the foundation for this program. I’m reminded of where we started this journey whenever I drive by Reaves Park. Then we stepped across the street to Marita Hynes Field. And now we’re on the cusp of having Love’s Field — the premier college softball facility in the country — as our home. I’m so grateful for everyone who helped us get to this point, and am incredibly excited for what’s still to come.”

The Oklahoma Sooners are expecting to begin play at Love’s Field during the 2024 season.

More From OU Athletics

Plans call for the overall square footage of the complex to reach 44,000, compared to 15,168 at Marita Hynes Field, OU’s present facility. The team areas will expand from 2,598 square feet to 5,593 square feet and the indoor practice facility will jump from 4,744 square feet to 10,669 square feet.

The Love’s Field seat-selection process for the 2024 softball season will resume in November with those in Groups 2 and 3 whose assigned selection time was not initially available during the first phase of the selection process this summer.

Seats will be selected via an online Love’s Field seat map. Groups 2 and 3 members whose assigned selection time was not available during the first phase of the selection process will be assigned a selection time in which they can view inventory and make seat selections as availability allows. Available seat locations are in the outfield reserved sections and require paying only the annual season ticket cost. To maximize capacity of Love’s Field, some sections in the outfield have been altered since the original selection process. Those who previously selected seats in these locations that may be impacted by this adjustment will be contacted prior to the selection process resuming in November.

Supporters in both groups will be ranked via Sooner Points associated with their OU Athletics account. Sooner Points accumulate for OU Athletics lifetime season ticket purchases, seat-related giving history and attendance. Assigned selection times and instructions will be provided via email to account holders prior to the start of the November selection process. Groups 2 and 3 are not guaranteed the opportunity to purchase season tickets, as seat locations throughout Love’s Field are subject to availability and the selections made by those with earlier assigned times.

Fans in Groups 2 and 3 who have do not receive seat-selection information via email today can contact the Sooner Club at 405-325-8000.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Twitter Reacts: Oklahoma athletic director announces plans for Patty Gasso statue

At the Oklahoma Sooners national championship celebration, OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione announced plans for a statue honoring Patty Gasso in 2024.

We are witnessing a living legend at the helm of Oklahoma Sooners softball. Patty Gasso just won her seventh national title, sixth in the last 10 years and third in a row in an historic season for the Sooners.

She was already the highest-paid coach in collegiate softball, helping not only build a dynasty in Norman but grow the sport of softball nationally. Now, the living legend will be immortalized.

Speaking at the Oklahoma Sooners national championship celebration, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione shared the University of Oklahoma will build a statue for Gasso in 2024.

“And I get emails and social media posts and people stopping me. ‘When are we going to dedicate a statue for Patty Gasso?”‘ Castiglione said. “So, y’all, we do things, you try to keep it secret for a while, but you just won’t let us keep a secret. So tonight, I’m just breaking it out. We’re gonna have a statue for coach Gasso next year!”

“We have built a program for the ages on the rock that Patty Gasso brought to Oklahoma, so it’s only going to be fitting that we’re gonna have a statue for coach Gasso next year,” Castiglione said.

When she finally took to the podium, coach Gasso struggled to find the words. “I’m honored,” the legendary coach said as she choked back tears Saturday night during a celebration of the Sooners’ latest national title. “It’s the first time you guys can be silent. I haven’t heard you so silent.”

The Sooners plan to play their first home game of 2024 in the new Love’s Field, which could also be dubbed, “The House that Patty Built.” Presumably, when the Sooners move into their new digs, there will be an attraction outside honoring their living legend.

Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops helped create the legend that is Oklahoma Sooners football, Gasso is the architect of Oklahoma Sooners softball.

While she’d tell you it’s the players that are the foundation of the team, and that’s true, there’s been one constant at the head of the table for this program during its seven national titles and countless Big 12 championships. And that’s Gasso.

Here are some of the best reactions from Twitter.