NORMAN — Patty Gasso thought the idea of an Oklahoma-shaped scoreboard was “kind of corny.” But when she toured Love’s Field, the new home of OU softball, Gasso was awestruck at the towering screen beyond center field.

“I think it’s the coolest thing,” Gasso said.

Complete with a panhandle and the contours of the state’s southern border, the $1.4 million scoreboard is the crown jewel of OU softball’s new digs, set to open Friday with a doubleheader against Miami (Ohio) and Liberty.

“It’s a state of Oklahoma and as big as you could make it,” Gasso said. “And it’s just a great representation of who we are and who we’re representing.”

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Everything about Love’s Field is top of the line — befitting of a program that’s won 67 straight games and back-to-back-to-back national championships. The $48 million stadium project would never have been proposed if not for Gasso, who’s won seven national championships in her 30 seasons as head coach.

Love’s Field is the House that Patty Built, and soon a statue of Gasso will be raised on the softball complex’s grounds.

Gasso’s tenure predates that of even Joe Castiglione’s, OU’s longtime athletic director who deserves credit for the Love’s Field scoreboard idea.

“It comes from the recesses of one’s mind,” Castiglione said Wednesday, “trying to think of what can be done to add to a facility that’s already state of the art.”

Gasso was skeptical.

“Oh God, I don’t know,” she remembers saying when Castiglione pitched the Oklahoma outline idea. “And then I saw it. I’m like, ‘This is legit.’”

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The LED board was manufactured by Daktronics, a giant in the industry. Daktronics, headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota, also designed the massive new video board at Paycom Center, home of the Thunder.

“It took some doing, because the scoreboard company hadn’t done this before,” Castiglione said. “But they jumped on board, and away we went.”

The giant screen is elevated, supported by three beams. A Love’s Field sign, with the heart logo and branding of Oklahoma-based Love’s Travel Stops, is suspended above the state outline.

A band of LED lights wrap around the edges of the board. At night, when the video board isn’t in use, the Oklahoma state outline will be illuminated by that strip of lights.

“Sometimes these ideas, you throw them out and they don’t go anywhere,” Castiglione said. “We just thought this would be something iconic.”

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OU softball home opener

Friday's games at Love's Field in Norman:

GAME 1: OU vs. Miami (Ohio), 2 p.m. Friday (ESPN+)

GAME 2: OU vs. Liberty, 5 p.m. Friday (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball set to open Love's Field with Oklahoma-shaped scoreboard