Plenty of sunshine. High 88F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Clear skies. Low 49F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.

The improvements come with a downside.

Oklahoma State has a new outfield in its softball stadium. After the eight-game fall softball season concluded in late October, Cowgirl Stadium was transformed.

United Turf and Track, a contracting company, tore up the outfield grass with heavy machinery, revealing a wide expanse of dirt matching the infield. Grey gravel was spread over the diamond, clearing the way for artificial turf.

OSU is also getting a new outfield wall, a needed addition after a black panel of the old wall fell onto the warning track in center field multiple times when the Cowgirls were playing Oklahoma in the previous season.

The improvements cost about $1.2 million.

“The fence won't fall over anymore,” coach Kenny Gajewski said. “We won't have wall pads that fall off our field while we're playing the No. 1 team in the country and beating them.”

The renovations took all offseason, with project wrapping up around the time as OSU’s season on Feb. 10.

While the turf was being installed and the wall was torn down, Cowgirl Stadium could not be used. The Cowgirls were displaced from their usual practice site.

“It’s been a pain in our butt,” Gajewski said. “We haven’t been on our field since we’ve been back.”

This winter, the Cowgirls have been mostly confined to their indoor building while practicing. The arrangement is adequate, but does not allow for the full range of drills and exercises that an outdoor field does. That has led OSU to be creative and use open areas, like OSU’s previous baseball stadium Allie P. Reynolds, to prepare for the coming season.

“We’ve been at Stillwater High four or five times,” Gajewski said. “We’ve used Allie P. We turned that grass into a softball field.”

OSU also traveled to OKC to practice at the Heritage Hall high school softball stadium.

The inconsistency has been frustrating for the Cowgirls, but it could serve as an advantage.

“It's been difficult with practice,” senior third baseman Sydney Pennington said. “No excuse at all. But we are fully prepared to play on any surface that we see this year. So we've been on the grass, we've been on dirt, we've been a turf, everything.”

An outfield wall is one of the hardest things for the Cowgirls to replicate while forced to practice away from their home stadium.

Haley Busby, a senior outfielder, said the sites OSU has been to have had outfield walls dissimilar to the one at Cowgirl Stadium. The Cowgirls have encountered chain link fences, 3-foot walls and the 7-foot wall at Allie. P Reynolds.

For Busby, who has worked with assistant coach Vanessa Shippy-Fletcher and the other outfielders to make due while practicing fielding around a wall, it reminds her of a simpler time.

“Growing up you go to the park and you go take ground balls or you go take fly balls and you don't have a fence, you don't have anything,” Busby said. “I think it's just kind of like being a kid again.”

The Cowgirls expect the turf to be worth the inconvenience.

The AstroTurf Diamond RBI surface that was installed drains more efficiently than a grass field and can be used year-around. It is filled with wood, instead of rubber, which eliminates pesky rubber pellets from getting into cleats.

“We won't have any more rain outs,” Gajewski said. “We'll be able to practice every day on our field.”

Gajewski and senior center fielder Chyenne Factor flew to Austin, Texas, during the winter for a day to test out the turf. They went through drills at a high school softball field where it was installed, gauging if the surface would be worth an investment.

“(Gajewski) was hitting balls straight up and they were coming down and bounces weren’t even coming above our hips,” Factor said. “It was a lot like grass, so it is really nice. And you would hit line drives and they weren't picking up speed.”

Factor liked the wood-filled turf, instead of the typical rubber turf that other places have.

“The turf at O’Brate (Stadium) is real bouncy because you’ve got the rubber,” Factor said. “And this isn't like that.”

The AstroTurf Diamond RBI surface turf doesn’t change the speed of rolling balls. The wood-filled turf also stays cooler than the rubber turf when it sits in the sun.

“When the ball hits a gap, it is not going to speed up and change,” Gajewski said. “It has got a pad underneath it. It is about 30 to 40 degrees cooler because of the way it is infilled.”

Gajewski, the Oklahoma Sooners’ turf and maintenance director for 10 years, said the turf will look pristine at every point throughout the year. He said that is important when showing the field to recruits.

Gajewski assigned Jordan Newell, OSU’s softball sports information director, with taking pictures of Cowgirl Stadium at different points throughout the renovation process to document the progress. Newell said the addition of the turf and wall look good.

“I think all this is really much needed,” Newell said. “Much deserved. It's going to make the home field all that much better.”

Because Gajewski expects a new OSU softball stadium to be built in the next three to five years, he is grateful OSU President Kayse Schrum and Athletic Director Chad Weiberg were willing to spend money to upgrade.

“We need more and we just need to continue to grow,” Gajewski said. “I'm very thankful and appreciative that we spent this money. We needed to.”

“For us to do that, I think tells you we’re committed to doing what is best for our student athletes,” Gajewski said.

Despite the promise that the synthetic grass will feel similar to the grass of old when players are tracking down fly balls this season, the Cowgirls are looking forward to getting reps on the new outfield surface with the wall behind them.

“We’ve just got to get our work in,” Busby said. “We know that we are good, and that we’ve put countless hours into this game that, come Feb. 10 when we do have a wall, it is just going to be another day, another game.”