Excitement in Stillwater

I’m headed to Stillwater today to do something I’ve never done before. Cover an OSU baseball regional at Reynolds Stadium.

When the Cowboys were riding high and annually (almost) hosting a regional, I was covering OU baseball in the spring. In the ’90s, when I joined the Oklahoman, the Cowboys sort of got out of the business of hosting. I went to Lubbock in 1996 and covered OSU in that regional, and the Cowboys zoomed to Omaha, in Gary Ward’s last year, with victories over USC (twice), Fresno State and Arkansas.

But OSU hasn’t hosted since 1997, and I was at the Women’s College World Series instead.

I’m looking forward to Reynolds Stadium. In the old days, it always rocked for Bedlam or a big conference series. Should be rocking tonight, when OSU hosts Western Kentucky as the Cowboys begin the road to the College World Series.

Baseball once was huge in Stillwater but that status has slipped a little. Not a lot, but a little. Crowds are down since the Ward days. Titles are fewer. That could be changing under Frank Anderson, and success in the regional is a good start.