NORMAN — OU softball coach Patty Gasso admits to some initial, fleeting disappointment when she saw that Stanford and Cal had broken the record for largest single-game attendance in NCAA softball history.
Cal beat Stanford on Saturday in front of a crowd of 13,207 at Stanford Stadium.
The Cardinal are playing at the football stadium this season while its softball facility undergoes renovations.
“We like to claim big moments so when I saw that I was like, ‘Oh,’ and then I’m like, ‘but, yeah,’” Gasso said. “Because that’s pretty cool.”
It also got Gasso thinking about much larger crowds that she — or the sport — have ever experienced.
The previous overall record was set in Oklahoma City on the first day of the 2024 Women’s College World Series when 12,566 packed into Devon Park.
Could OU softball play game at Owen Field?
The Bedlam matchup in the stadium recently drew 9,259 to set a regular-season attendance record for the sport, breaking the previous mark set by an OU-Texas showdown in the same stadium in 2023.
When Nebraska announced it would play a volleyball match against Omaha in its football venue, Memorial Stadium, in 2023, the subject of the Sooners playing a game at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was broached.
After the Cal-Stanford record-breaker, Gasso said it might be time to revisit the idea or something similar.
“I know Joe (Castiglione, OU’s athletic director) was talking about we’re making changes in the football stadium and we could nudge a little here and there and maybe create that,” Gasso remembered Tuesday. “That was a long time ago, so I probably need to revisit that.”
The dimensions of the playing surface on Owen Field would make it impossible to accommodate a softball field to NCAA regulations unless renovations were made — even temporarily — to allow for it to occur.
Some additional stands at Devon Park would help the record fall, but Gasso is thinking bigger than just barely extending the mark.
“I think it would be amazing to see a full football stadium,” Gasso said. “… I need to make that phone call.”
Cal-Stanford sets NCAA softball attendance record with ‘The Big Swing’
Stanford promoted Saturday’s game as “The Big Swing,” using a marketing push that involved invites to youth softball leagues in the Bay Area, to set the record.
Thursday night’s opener of the series — in the same venue — drew just 737.
The Sooners are second nationally in home attendance at 3,468 per game. Alabama leads the nation with an average of 3,745. Arkansas (2,912) is the only other team averaging more than 2,250 this season.
OU’s average figures to get bumped up a bit this weekend when it hosts a three-game series against top-ranked Texas beginning Thursday at Love’s Field.
Largest attendance in NCAA softball history
| Attendance | Location | Date | Score(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13,207 | Palo Alto, Calif. | April 19, 2025 | Cal 10, Stanford 8 |
| 12,566 | Oklahoma City | May 30, 2024 | Texas 4, Stanford 0; Florida 1, Oklahoma State 0 |
| 12,565 | Oklahoma City | June 1, 2024 | Oklahoma 1, UCLA 0; Texas 10, Florida 0 (5 inn.) |
| 12,533 | Oklahoma City | June 4, 2022 | Oklahoma 7, Texas 2; Oklahoma State 2, Florida 0 |
| 12,532 | Oklahoma City | May 31, 2024 | Alabama 2, Duke 1; Stanford 8, Oklahoma State 0 (5 inn.) |
| 12,468 | Oklahoma City | June 3, 2023 | Oklahoma 9, Tennessee 0 (5 inn.); Florida State 3, Washington 1 |
| 12,445 | Oklahoma City | May 30, 2024 | UCLA 4, Alabama 1; Oklahoma 9, Duke 1 (6 inn.) |
| 12,444 | Oklahoma City | June 1–2, 2023 | Florida State 8, Oklahoma State 0 (6 inn.); Washington 4, Utah 1 |
| 12,436 | Oklahoma City | June 4, 2023 | Stanford 1, Washington 0; Tennessee 3, Oklahoma State 1 |
| 12,418 | Oklahoma City | June 2, 2024 | Florida 6, Alabama 4; Stanford 3, UCLA 1 |
| 12,415 | Oklahoma City | June 2, 2023 | Stanford 2, Alabama 0; Oklahoma State 8, Utah 0 (5 inn.) |
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball coach Patty Gasso wants to break NCAA attendance record