Big 12 Softball: Top Three Storylines for Week 4
Though it feels like the 2024 softball season kicked off a matter of days ago, we’re entering the final weekend of nonconference play, with Big 12 play looming large in Week 5.
Before we get to that though, there are plenty of things to check in for this week, including the grand opening of the biggest stadium in the country.
Here are the five biggest storylines for Week 4 across Big 12 softball.
Oklahoma Breaking in Love’s Field
Amid one of the most dominant stretches in collegiate sports history, the Oklahoma Sooners made a major investment into their softball program by investing in Love’s Field. A brand new, state-of-the-art stadium and training facility for the best softball team in America, Love’s Field will provide a unique experience, and one worthy of the OU brand.
Oklahoma will play two games on Friday afternoon, opening up with Miami (OH) at 2:00 p.m. and Liberty at 5:00 p.m. The Redhawks and Flames will provide decent competition, but the real story will be Patty Gasso’s new coliseum, which will host a nation-leading 4,200 fans; a massive increase from Marita Hynes Field, which has a capacity of 1,378.
The Sooners have already announced a sellout crowd for Opening Day, and have all the information you’ll need here if you plan on attending.
UCF Hosts No. 17 South Carolina at Knights Classic
UCF had a very tough weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic, dropping games to Mississippi State, Oregon, Missouri, and Tennessee, all of which are still in this week’s Top 25.
Still at 8-6, the Knights are a team to watch in the Big 12 race if they can put things together. This weekend they’ll have the perfect chance to do so as UCF plays host to Princeton, Kennesaw State, Bethune-Cookman, and No. 17 South Carolina.
While they’ll face Kansas in the first week of Big 12 play next weekend, UCF could certainly use a big weekend at home, especially if they could pick up a win against a Top 25 opponent after going 0-4 to this point in the year.
Calm Before the Storm
Big 12 teams are taking is easy this week, relatively speaking, as the vast majority of the league will spent their weekends feasting on cupcakes in the final weekend of the non-conference slate.
In fact, UCF is the only Big 12 team set to face a ranked opponent this weekend, let alone a team from one of the other power conferences in this sport. However, just because the action might be a little lackluster this weekend, don’t check out on us just yet. When Big 12 play kicks off next week, the fireworks start right away.
Baylor, who caught fire last week with three wins over ranked opponents, will play host to Oklahoma State, who made a statement of their own with a dominant weekend that included a 7-0 win over Washington.
Then two upstart programs face off as Kansas heads to Orlando to take on UCF in the Knights’ inaugural Big 12 series. Texas Tech, who has looked better than expected to this point, will head to BYU to give the Cougars their first Big 12 action. Add to that Iowa State at Oklahoma and Texas visiting Houston and you’ve got a full slate of matchups worth your attention.
Just hang in there for one weekend Big 12 softball fans, because after this, things heat up in a big way.
