OU Softball: Why Oklahoma's Patty Gasso Says 'Great Competition' of Bedlam in OKC is 'Good for the Fans'

NORMAN — Bedlam hostilities will renew on Wednesday, which will hopefully be a constant fixture for the Sooner State’s pair of powers.

Patty Gasso’s No. 2-ranked Oklahoma Sooners are set to meet Kenny Gajewski’s No. 17-ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls at Devon Park, which is the only scheduled meeting between the two programs this year.

Attendance for the game could push the single-game regular season record of 8,930 fans that was set against Texas on March 31, 2023, at then-Hall of Fame Stadium, which would be an outstanding showing for the first non-conference matchup between the two foes.

“I’m really excited for our team to feel the energy at the Hall of Fame Stadium,” Gasso said Tuesday. “It will feel like a World Series game and that’s something we need to keep feeling because three-fourths of our team has not felt that before.

“I’m looking forward to that. I’m looking forward to the challenge at the plate, for sure. OSU is well-rounded, speed, good hitters, lots of ways to score.”

The Wednesday meeting offers a high-quality mid-week contest for both programs, which fit nicely into OU’s schedule as Gasso had to navigate a new scheduling model for the first time this year in the SEC.

And while the contract for Wednesday's clash was a one-year deal, neither head coach seemed opposed to continuing the matchup in the future.

“It’s good for the fans, they love it,” Gasso said. “It’s going to be a great crowd. It’s going to be great competition, our players need to feel that.

“It’s such a new group that I’m anxious to see what they look like in this environment. They play hard, concentrate well. but this is another level that I’m just really anxious to see how they handle the noise, the crowd.”

Gajewski also said he’d like to be able to expand the number of Bedlam contests each year, whether that includes one game in Oklahoma City and one on each campus or rotating the game around the state.

“I’m hopeful that we can keep this thing going,” Gajewski said Tuesday. “Obviously for Oklahoma State, it’s something that we need and something that we want. And so we’ll play this game and hopefully it goes well enough that both sides want to keep this up.”

Both schools were able to work through new conference scheduling models to make Wednesday’s game a reality.

“I see their schedule, you know, through conference and when you're going to want to play this game,” Gajewski said. “You don't want to do it early. Kind of want to do when the weather is going to be 81 and we can get a nice crowd and that kind of stuff.

“… Hall of Fame (Stadium), they stepped in and made a lot of things available to us. I mean, we're still having to pay and do some things like that, but that's OK. We're gonna be OK on that. And it's just cool to see. So I'm thankful to them that OU wants to play and hopeful that it can keep going on. I think it's an important game. I think it'll be the most watched game of the year until you get to the very end.

“And I know in our state what it means, and I know there's a lot of people around that will be having eyeballs on this game, and it's cool to be a part of it.”

Kenny Gajewski would love to play two or even three Bedlam games a season but understands scheduling is an issue. Says #Sooners coach Patty Gasso was really good to him when he got #OkState job and gave him sound advice on scheduling. pic.twitter.com/QGihI3HuJm
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) April 8, 2025

Gasso said her mind hasn’t progressed to building future schedules yet, as she’s just focused on guiding her team through the rest of this year.

“Quite honestly, I have not even thought that far,” she said. “It would be nice to play one, for sure. I like the idea of (playing at) Hall of Fame because you can bring in so many fans. But I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest with you.”

Last year, Oklahoma State snapped a massive Bedlam Series drought.

The Cowgirls took the first with the Sooners 6-3 at Love’s Field, then backed up that victory with a 6-2 win after a nearly 3 1/2-hour delay for severe weather halted the game after just four pitches.

Oklahoma rebounded with a victory on Senior Day to avoid the sweep.

From there, the Sooners refused to look back, rolling through the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City before winning an unprecedented fourth straight national title at the Women’s College World Series last June.

The Bedlam win was Oklahoma State’s first series victory over the Sooners since 1997, and it marked the first home series defeat for Oklahoma since 2006.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State last met at Devon Park in 2022, when the Cowgirls upset OU 4-3 to capture the 2022 Big 12 Tournament title.

The last regular season matchup between OU and OSU in Oklahoma City was on March 30, 2016. Oklahoma won that contest 10-2 after five innings.

First pitch between the Sooners and the Cowgirls is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, and it will be broadcast on ESPN2.