OU softball: Sooners break ground on Love's Field, Patty Gasso says new facility will be 'one of, if not the best'

Oklahoma broke ground on Love’s Field, its new softball stadium, at a ceremony on Friday.

OU announced the new 3,000-seat stadium in 2018, and it was named Love’s Field after Love’s Travel Stops donated $9 million to the project in 2021. The donation is the largest philanthropic gift to a female sport in OU athletics history. Love’s Field will replace Marita Hynes Field, which has been the Sooners’ home since 1998.

According to OU, Love’s Field will include a 10,500 square foot indoor practice facility alongside classrooms and training rooms. The stadium, located on the northwest corner of South Jenkins Avenue and Imhoff Road, is scheduled to open before the 2024 season. Its estimated cost is around $42 million, with $20 million donated through the Sooner Club.

“This stadium… is going to be one of, if not the best,” head coach Patty Gasso said to reporters after the ceremony. “We’re trying to be the best at everything we’re doing. It seems like we’re starting to see that really happen.”

Speakers at Friday’s ceremony included OU President Joseph Harroz Jr., athletic director Joe Castiglione, Gasso and redshirt senior shortstop Grace Lyons.

Love’s Field has officially broke ground. #Sooners pic.twitter.com/5ttJPytBDu

— Nick Coppola (@Nick_Coppola__) September 23, 2022

After the ceremony, Gasso spoke about how pleased she is to have a “state-of-the-art” stadium to match OU’s success. The Sooners have won six national championships, including back-to-back Women’s College World Series titles in 2021 and 2022.

Gasso also noted how the stadium will be a recruiting tool. The Sooners will have their own facilities at Love’s Field, allowing them to move on from using OU football’s and the older facilities at Marita Hynes Field.

“One day, we’ll have (the new stadium),” Gasso said. “Now I won’t have to go down there (to the football facility). I like to go visit, but I won’t have to use it as my main source of recruiting anymore.

“When they see that there could be 4,000 people watching them play, when they could have a sleep pod or cryo chair waiting for them and all the amenities that we’ve had to go to football to get… it’s so deserving.”

Here’s what #Sooners coach Patty Gasso said on how the added amenities at Love’s Field will benefit her team. “When they see that there could be 4,000 people watching them play. When they could have a sleep pod or cryo chair waiting for them… it’s so deserving.” pic.twitter.com/TFh9MTbdIF

— Nick Coppola (@Nick_Coppola__) September 23, 2022

Lyons, who enters her fifth year with the Sooners next season, spoke on behalf of the players. Like many of her teammates, she will graduate from OU before the stadium is complete. However, she’s proud that the next generation of Sooners will play in a “special” stadium.

“We’ve been hearing about this new facility since our eighth-grade year,” Lyons said during the event. “We may not be able to play in it, but it’s something that we’ll come back to and have some special moments watching the future of OU softball.”

Lyons went through a list of all the new features her younger teammates are excited to use, including larger bullpens and batting cages. Lyons also believes the increased seating capacity will create an electric stadium atmosphere.

“I'm just also so excited to see how many more people we can fit in the stadium,” Lyons said. “The atmosphere is incredible, but going and playing at these places where you feel surrounded by fans… we’re just going to be super excited as players.”

Hundreds of people attended the ceremony, far more than Castiglione expected. He mentioned the softball program’s popularity as one of the primary reasons for the new stadium.

“You just run out of superlatives,” Castiglione told reporters. “I guess that means when we actually dedicate the stadium that it’s going to be overflowing because people are just so passionate. (The players) have this gift to connect with the fans, and it's the little things that they do… to draw people in.”

Here’s #Sooners AD Joe Castiglione talking about how the increased fan support was one of the main reasons behind building Love’s Field. “(The players) have this gift to connect with the fans.” pic.twitter.com/IFNoTAvmzM

— Nick Coppola (@Nick_Coppola__) September 23, 2022

Gasso believes the new stadium’s impact goes beyond OU and is a special achievement for all women’s sports.

“I just remember... when (former Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt) filled her stadium and what she did with her team,” Gasso said. “Our goal for us is to create that same momentum,  whether it’s for other softball programs, or women’s sports in general. Anything like a donation or gift is off the charts for female sports. We're going to take it and we're gonna run with it.

“People will continue to give because they fall in love with this program, and we're gonna do our best to continue to deliver.”