Kelly Maxwell has pitched plenty at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.

Friday, she’ll get a different experience, though.

This time, she’ll be in the crimson and cream of OU instead of Oklahoma State’s orange and black.

Talking this week about her early memories of pitching at the stadium, Maxwell referenced the atmosphere.

“It was nerve-wracking I remember,” Maxwell said. “But I think you kind of have to use the crowd to your advantage. You have to realize that they’re cheering maybe for the other team but in a way they’re cheering for you too. They’re just softball fans.”

Teammate Jayda Coleman cut her off.

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“Well, they’re gonna be on your side now,” Coleman said. “Now you have a lot more fans on your side this go around, so it will be good for you.”

Maxwell and the top-ranked Sooners take on Baylor at 6 p.m. Friday in Oklahoma City.

It will be OU’s first game at the stadium since winning their third consecutive Women’s College World Series title on the field last June.

“I’m excited,” Alynah Torres said. “The last time we were there, we were holding that trophy so that’s going to be a little nostalgic moment for me. But I’m excited, it’s our last year so I want to kind of take that in and all of the seniors with me and just have a good time.

“It’s a blessing and we’re growing the game, the fact that we can even play a game at Hall of Fame is awesome.”

Sooners coach Patty Gasso still marvels at the scene last March 31.

That’s the night when OU hosted Texas at the stadium, drawing a crowd of 8,930 to set an NCAA record for a regular-season softball game.

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“I’ll never forget that moment,” Gasso said. “It was a Friday night, the sun is setting and just all of the camera lights come out. It takes a lot to make me feel things anymore because I try to hold everything very tight, but I was in awe.”

The record shattered the previous record of 5,724, set by Fresno State in 2000.

Friday’s game is close to another sellout.

As of Wednesday night, about 500 tickets remained for the game against Baylor.

The other two games in the series — at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday — will be played at Love’s Field in Norman.

Gasso said Friday’s game wouldn’t be the last of the program pushing the envelope to draw attention to the program and the sport as a whole.

“We want to continue to attract attendance,” Gasso said. “We want to break records. We want other universities to try to do the same. That’s why you’ll see a lot of games on TV. Viewership has been great. If we sit back and think we’ve arrived, it’ll fall. It’ll fall away.”

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When Nebraska scheduled a volleyball game at Memorial Stadium, drawing a crowd of 92,003 to set a record for largest crowd to watch a women’s sporting event, Gasso floated the idea of playing a softball game on Owen Field.

Gasso said the conversation continues on a possible game at the stadium.

“The last conversation I had with Joe (Castiglione) — if anybody would want to do it, he would want to do it,” Gasso said. “He’s an innovator. He would love to be the organizer of that. It would take some construction to do it. It sounds like we’re going to have construction going on at the football stadium, so I’m assuming his wheels are turning and working on how to maybe make this happen. I don’t know.

“I’ve stopped asking about it because I feel guilty because we have Love’s now. I’m not asking for anything. I am over the moon. But Joe is an advocate for women’s athletics, and if an AD’s gonna do it, I think he would be the one.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball game vs Baylor at Hall of Fame Stadium growing the sport