Love's Field (softball)

[VanHammersly]

Some photos via OU Daily

https://www.oudaily.com/multimedia/p...db2d1d5.html#2

[VanHammersly]

Looks like the outfield pads are getting installed. And it looks like they are too short?

https://x.com/jasonfaires/status/176...biAPJAxJhTwfZw


IMG_0076.jpeg

[Snowman]

Looks like the outfield pads are getting installed. And it looks like they are too short?

https://x.com/jasonfaires/status/176...biAPJAxJhTwfZw


IMG_0076.jpeg

It looks like it will either be two pieces of padding or the lowest part might be something more capable of being hit by the equipment that does mantence of the field.

[Bill Robertson]

Bottom of the pads might be just like they are. If balls roll to the wall they will bounce more predictably off of concrete.

[VanHammersly]

Bottom of the pads might be just like they are. If balls roll to the wall they will bounce more predictably off of concrete.

That would be incredibly unusual and would look bizarre with the way the letters are justified.

[Silvershoes]

That would be incredibly unusual and would look bizarre with the way the letters are justified.

Completely agree. Not to mention, the whole idea of the padding is to protect players running at the wall full speed from direct impact with the concrete. I find it hard to believe Coach Gasso will not want the padding to run nearly to the ground mostly for player protection but also aesthetics.

[Silvershoes]

That would be incredibly unusual and would look bizarre with the way the letters are justified.

Completely agree. Not to mention, the whole idea of the padding is to protect players running at the wall full speed from direct impact with the concrete. I find it hard to believe Coach Gasso will not want the padding to run nearly to the ground mostly for player protection but also aesthetics.

[Pete]

It's not unusual -- especially in baseball -- to have the bottom strip of the outfield padding remain concrete or wood and just paint it to match the padding.

It's to allow the ball to bounce off the wall instead of just being deadened by the padding. Also very common behind the plate for the same reason.


I suspect they will be adding a color-coordinated strip to the bottom that will be of different material.

You can see the distance from the top of the letters to the top border is equal to the gap between the letters and the ground, so something of the same color will be installed there or at least painted. If it was to be just paint, they probably would have done it before installing the pads.

[VanHammersly]

It’s not worth arguing about but I can’t think of any examples of a two foot gap between the padding and the field.

[Snowman]

It’s not worth arguing about but I can’t think of any examples of a two foot gap between the padding and the field.

It is more like one foot

[barrettd]

It’s not worth arguing about but I can’t think of any examples of a two foot gap between the padding and the field.

Not quite a two foot gap, but a quick Google search shows many examples where the outfield padding stops short of the ground as is a different material/non-padded.

[EdOkCounty]

The padding is consistent with NCAA rules and regulations. "By January 1, 2027, sideline and home run fences constructed of a hard material (e.g., wood, concrete or brick) are required to be padded. Padding must begin not higher than 1 foot off the ground and extend to the top of the wood, concrete or brick or 6 feet from the ground, whichever is shorter."
Quoted directly from the NCAA Softball 2024 and 2025 Rules Book

[VanHammersly]

Progress photos from Alonzo Adams on Twitter. Concourse has been poured and the front entrance is almost done

https://x.com/alonzoadamspics/status...biAPJAxJhTwfZw

[Pete]

Here are Alonzo's photos.

Note the outfield wall is now the same color all the way down but not sure what is covering the lowest part. I'll take photos this weekend and solve the mystery!

https://twitter.com/AlonzoAdamsPics

[FighttheGoodFight]

Interested to see how much the revenue for softball goes up with more seats they raised 1.5 million last FY. (https://bvmsports.com/2024/02/19/how...lly-in-fy2023/)

[VanHammersly]

Interested to see how much the revenue for softball goes up with more seats they raised 1.5 million last FY. (https://bvmsports.com/2024/02/19/how...lly-in-fy2023/)

Were they requiring donations to buy season tickets at Marita Hynes like they are at Love's? Those donations alone might increase revenue quite a bit.

[BoulderSooner]

Were they requiring donations to buy season tickets at Marita Hynes like they are at Love's? Those donations alone might increase revenue quite a bit.

maybe they can get close to not losing money

[Bodie]

I'd like to say a big shout out Pete and to everyone else who has provided pictures and updates to Love's Field. For those of us that live out of state we very much appreciate all of your updates.

[Pete]

I'd like to say a big shout out Pete and to everyone else who has provided pictures and updates to Love's Field. For those of us that live out of state we very much appreciate all of your updates.

You're welcome. It's good to know others enjoy all these photos and I have to admit I love watching the rapid advancement of big construction projects.

I'll get down there this weekend and I hope to be there Friday for opening day in order to get some inside shots.

[HillcountrySooner]

Were they requiring donations to buy season tickets at Marita Hynes like they are at Love's? Those donations alone might increase revenue quite a bit.

this is the first year that softball has had a seat donation.

[VanHammersly]

You're welcome. It's good to know others enjoy all these photos and I have to admit I love watching the rapid advancement of big construction projects.

I'll get down there this weekend and I hope to be there Friday for opening day in order to get some inside shots.

I never knew how much I enjoyed construction until you started posting photos of Love's Field. My wife will catch me studying them and think I'm crazy. I really enjoy looking at the progress and trying to figure out how it was designed.

[Pete]

I never knew how much I enjoyed construction until you started posting photos of Love's Field. My wife will catch me studying them and think I'm crazy. I really enjoy looking at the progress and trying to figure out how it was designed.

If you love big construction projects, there is a great channel on Youtube (it's all free content):

https://www.youtube.com/@TheB1M

[David]

The B1M is fantastic, I listen to their podcast pretty frequently.

[Silvershoes]

You're welcome. It's good to know others enjoy all these photos and I have to admit I love watching the rapid advancement of big construction projects.

I'll get down there this weekend and I hope to be there Friday for opening day in order to get some inside shots.

Will be interesting to see how much outside the stadium down the 1st & 3rd base side they get concrete poured prior to next Friday.

Thanks again Pete for all the pics.

[Pete]

There have been near-ideal weather conditions for the last month and it looks like that will hold right up until opening day, a huge stroke of luck considering we are talking about the entirety of February.

They still have tons of concrete to pour just to get the concourses usable.

Nothing like a hard deadline to get everyone focused!