Oklahoma State is trying to create a home away from home. But Nebraska fans are making it difficult.
The Cowboys earned the No. 9 national seed and the right to host an NCAA regional this weekend after finishing strong and winning the Big 12 tournament. Yet postseason action will play out at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City — 63 miles southwest of its campus field in Stillwater — after record amounts of rainfall in the area rendered the natural-grass surface at Reynolds Stadium unplayable.
Tickets went on sale to the general public — including Husker fans — Wednesday morning for the games in the home of Triple-A’s Oklahoma City Dodgers that seats 9,000. OKC Dodgers President Michael Byrnes told The World-Herald that interest had “exceeded expectations” by the time the ticket office closed that day but declined to give a specific number of seats sold.
“I’ve had staffers tell me these tickets are going at the rate they would for a Clayton Kershaw rehab start,” Byrnes said, referring to the former Cy Young-winning pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Single-session tickets for the Friday games go on sale at 2 p.m. Thursday. Nebraska plays Connecticut at noon Friday before Oklahoma State and Harvard follow at 6.Different regional hosts have opened all-session ticket sales to the public at various times this week. No. 1 national seed UCLA, for example, had them available online Sunday night in advance of the Monday pairings announcement. Ole Miss and Texas Tech granted access Wednesday. Oregon State didn’t have all-session tickets on sale until Thursday. For Nebraska faithful venturing south, all-session seating is available for $80.
Oklahoma State is also dealing with the unique circumstance of its softball team playing only a few miles away in the Women’s College World Series. The Cowgirls play at 7 p.m. Thursday and will go again Friday at either 2:30 or 9:30 p.m. and could extend into the weekend.
NCAA Regionals: Nebraska vs. UCONN
When: 11:30 a.m. Friday
Where: Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City
Radio: 1600 AM, 105.5 FM in Nebraska City