OU Softball: Game One of Red River Series Moved to Oklahoma City

The first game of the conference series between the two rivals will now take place at the home of the Women's College World Series.

One of Oklahoma’s biggest regular season games will now be played on the sport’s biggest stage.

The No. 1-ranked Sooners’ highly-anticipated series with Texas will now have its opener played at the nearby USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, OU and USA Softball announced on Wednesday.

The 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 returns to OKC 📍

Game One of OU-Texas on March 31 will be played at @USASoftball Hall of Fame Complex.

🔗 https://t.co/bimTV5nbUA pic.twitter.com/mQi7swTawl

— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) February 8, 2023

The game is set for Friday, March 31 at 6 p.m. CT and was originally scheduled to be played at Marita Hynes Field in Norman.

Now, the two teams that battled each other in last season’s Women College World Series finals will get to meet again at the same site in which Oklahoma took down the Longhorns to claim the national title.

The second and third games of the set, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., will still take place in Norman as initially planned.

Oklahoma will still serve as the designated home team for the contest, with season ticket holders receiving complimentary tickets for the game in Oklahoma City.

This also marks the second time in as many years that an OU diamond sport has moved a Red River Rivalry game out of Norman, after Sooners baseball relocated their entire season with the Longhorns to Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX last April.

However, this time the venue change comes just a stone’s throw away in nearby Oklahoma City with the remainder of the series still taking place in the friendly confines of Marita Hynes Field.

OU opens their 2023 season on Thursday against the No. 16 Duke Blue Devils as part of the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, CA.