Conference title at stake in last Big 12 Bedlam
May 2—A new softball facility, an impending move to the SEC and a program looking to become the first to win four straight national titles.
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the biggest storylines of Oklahoma's 2024 season remain at the forefront. Over three games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Love's Field will serve as the backdrop for a Bedlam series that will determine the Big 12's regular season champions.
The Sooners have won the last 11 regular season titles, but enter Bedlam with just a one-game lead over Texas in the conference standings.
First pitch for Friday's game will be at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.
Oklahoma controls its own destiny heading into the weekend. The second-placed Longhorns will have a three-game series at Texas Tech.
If Oklahoma sweeps its in-state rivals, it'll secure the Big 12 title regardless of what happens to Texas this weekend. If the Sooners win at least two games they'll need the Longhorns to drop a game in order to win their 12th straight regular season crown.
The Longhorns would have the advantage in a potential tiebreaker due to their 2-1 series win over the Sooners. The fourth-ranked Cowgirls have an advantage in a potential tiebreaker with Texas.
The top two teams in the Big 12 standings will earn a bye in the first round of the conference tournament next weekend and would only need to win three games to take the tournament title.
The three-game series will feature the highest-ranked opponent Oklahoma has ever faced at Love's Field and its final regular season contests as members of the Big 12.
There will undoubtedly be extra attention surrounding Oklahoma pitcher Kelly Maxwell over the weekend as she faces her former team for the first time since transferring last offseason. Maxwell was the Cowgirls starting pitcher in 2022 when they knocked off the Sooners in the title game of the 2022 Big 12 tournament.
Still, the Cowgirls current staff has combined for 13 shutouts this season and are holding opposing batters to a .205 average at the plate.
Oklahoma's offense has the ability to score plenty of runs, but its batting average has taken a dip over the last month. The Sooners have rebounded a bit during their last two conference series against Houston and UCF, but were inconsistent in at least one game both weekends.
They're still leading the country in batting average (.372), on-base percentage (.480) and are second in runs per game (8.35).
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com
