Bedlam Softball: Why Kenny Gajewski Wants to Keep Playing Bedlam

STILLWATER — Two of the best softball programs in the country share this oddly shaped state, but there were times throughout the past few years where Kenny Gajewksi said he wasn’t sure they’d play each other in 2025.

Oklahoma State and Oklahoma will play. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. The Sooners’ move to the SEC put the Bedlam series in jeopardy. Depending on the sport, Bedlam games have taken on new variations over the past year. Football isn’t playing for the time being. Men’s basketball met in OKC. Women’s basketball didn’t play this season. Baseball is playing a midweek game but sticking to college campuses. Each sport has worked out its own thing.

“I thought early, ‘Oh yeah, this is a no-brainer,'” said Gajewski of scheduling the game. “I have a bad habit of just thinking about it through my eyes. You know, why wouldn’t we play? But I’m not in their shoes. I see their schedule through conference and when you’re gonna wanna play this game, you don’t want to do it early. You kind of want to do it when the weather is gonna be 81 and we can get a nice crowd and that kind of stuff. Then my expectation kind of dropped for a while, and then Jesse (Martin, OSU’s senior associate AD of external affairs) and Toby (Baldwin, OU’s executive associate AD) really got together and made it happen. And Hall of Fame, they stepped in and made a lot of things available to us. …

“It’s cool to see. I’m thankful to OU that they want to play. Hopeful that it can keep going on. I think it’s an important game. I think it’ll be the most-watched game of the year until you get to the very end. I know in our state what it means, and I know that there’s a lot of people around that’ll be having eyeballs on this game. It’s cool to be a part of it to be very honest.”

Just how good are these two programs? Well, it’s been a relatively down season for each, and they enter Wednesday’s matchup a combined 54-14. OU is the consensus No. 2 team in the country at 34-3 this season. That’s relatively down considering OU has won the past four national titles while going a combined 235-15. The Cowgirls have been to the past five WCWS but are out to a 23-11 start in 2025. Before the season, Gajewksi said he thought this OSU team was the best he’s had in his 10 years with the program. Despite the start to the year not going to plan, he said he isn’t backing off that statement yet.

Gajewski said he wouldn’t mind playing the Sooners more and suggested maybe playing one game in Oklahoma City and another alternating on campus sites or playing three games a year: one in OKC, one in Stillwater and one in Norman.

It’s good for the game of softball that these teams are playing, but Gajewksi also pointed to the big impact it has on the Cowgirls’ RPI. OU is ninth in RPI while Texas is eighth. Those used to be automatically scheduled games that were good on the Cowgirls’ resume. OSU ranks 15th in the RPI with the only Big 12 team ahead of the Cowgirls being Arizona at No. 11.

OU doesn’t necessarily need the RPI boost. There are 13 SEC teams in the top 25 of the RPI — including the entire top four. The Big 12 has three schools in the top 25 with Texas Tech joining OSU and Arizona. Gajewski has always played a competitive schedule, but this season’s looks a little different give the two programs that left the conference.

“Losing a Texas and OU to a different conference really hurts,” Gajewski said. “It takes six RPI games away that I personally, for our program, I count on. Arizona brings that back, so that’s good. I want to make sure that we have these types of games. That’s why we went to Georgia in a midweek. It’s why we went to Arizona State. That’s why Texas is gonna come in here (on April 23), and then next year we’ll go there. Because I want to make sure that we can get those types of games, not only to prepare us for what’s the end is like, but I think that’s been who we’ve been.

“I don’t think that’s a shock to anyone. But also, I want to put us in a chance to host. We’re not doing a very good job of securing that at this point, and maybe’s it’s slipping away some. But that’s OK. This team is on its own journey, and we need these type of games to remind us who we are and what we need to get better at.”

Another reason to play this game is for the revenue it could produce, which is all the more important in the NIL/revenue sharing era. Gajewski said they’re having to pay to operate Devon Park but that the Cowgirls are driving down the day of the game, so travel fees are limited. Meanwhile, the game is sold out.

It feels like the reasons to continue playing Bedlam softball far outweigh the reasons not to.

“Obviously hopeful that we can keep this thing going,” Gajewski said. “For Oklahoma State, it’s obviously something that we need and we want. We’ll play this game, and hopefully it goes well enough that both sides go, ‘Hey, let’s keep this up.’ …

“I like to play these type of games even if they put stress on your team and that kind of stuff. Patty’s the one who actually has been really good to me when I first got this job and said, ‘Hey, the key on this is scheduling.’ And I learned that from Tim (Walton, Florida’s coach), as well. Maybe I’m the idiot for wanting to play them more, but when I play these games, win or lose, I know where we stand and I know where we need to get better at. That’s why I like to play them.”

Bedlam Softball

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Devon Park in Oklahoma City
TV: ESPN2