Bedlam softball more than just the Kelly Maxwell storyline

Will OU softball crack the 5,000 attendance mark this weekend? It does not get much bigger than what’s about to go down at Love’s Field in Bedlam between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

The final Bedlam in the Big 12. Entering the season, a lot of the focus was, obviously, about Kelly Maxwell. How could it not be? An all-time great at OSU who transferred to OU for her final season. It was a huge story in the summer.

It will be again this weekend. Especially if head coach Patty Gasso sticks with her rotation of Maxwell starting the first game of every series.

“She has really grown so much since she’s been here,” Gasso said. “She has not looked in the rearview mirror. Looking out the front window and what’s in front of her. She’s the most professional-style pitcher.

“She’s a solid young lady, very mature and professional and intelligent. There’s a lot of wonderful things about her. That will be celebrated this weekend. We haven’t talked about it. It’s in the rearview mirror. She’s just looking forward.”

But what might even be bigger? Neither team has lost a step. OU is No. 2 in the country. OSU has been just as good at No. 4 in the nation.

There’s more than just bragging rights on the line in Norman. OU holds the narrow lead in the conference standings over Texas and OSU. The regular season championship will be decided this weekend. So much is at stake.

However, there’s no doubt there will be that added fuel to the fire as soon as Maxwell takes to the circle and makes that first pitch.

“One of the things that I most appreciate about Kelly’s journey here is just her ability to get comfortable with the team and really come out of her shell,” catcher Kinzie Hansen said. “Even the past month, we’ve seen so much growth. I’m sure it’s not easy coming from a rivalry school, coming to the University of Oklahoma, somebody who you’ve pitched against the last four years.

“So just being able to build that friendship and that camaraderie has been really, really fun. I’m really, really excited for her for this weekend.”

Light coming on?

This is what a lot of OU fans are wondering. Is May the month where the light switch comes on, and the Sooners take it to that next level?

Or is there just not that level for OU to switch to in 2024?

“They know how to do it,” Gasso said. “And there’s something to say about those that know how to do it and maybe they know how to do it, I don’t have to go out and work. But I think they have put in more hours as of late on their own to get what they want, because we’re gonna get what we’re supposed to get.

“It has a lot to do with the work ethic and what you’re doing on your own, things like that. I know that we’ve been doing that preparation for what’s coming ahead, and this is what they’ve been waiting for. This is their most enjoyable time of the season, is postseason. I’m feeling really good about where we’re at.”

The one real test for OU was at Texas last month, where the Sooners dropped two of three in Austin. Everybody circled Bedlam as the next real test.

Well, it’s finally here.

Final word

“We take in every moment but we’re always in the trenches with each other. Like I know that we kind of joke about it but every year that we’ve won it’s gotten harder and harder and being able to kind of reflect on the past but also being in the moment. This season has not been easy. We have lost some big games. We’ve lost some not-big games but every journey’s different. So I think that the past doesn’t matter anymore.

“The growth of this team and the camaraderie that we have day in and day out is something you don’t really have to stop and smell the roses because you’re in it. The roses are in the trenches, I guess. So while we think that we’re grinding so hard and all of this stuff, it’s easy to look around and appreciate the greatness because this is only going to come around one time.” – Hansen