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One Swing Turned Nebraska-Arkansas Into a WCWS Classic

The Huskers got a pair of clutch home runs to complete their comeback against the Razorbacks.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Nebraska's Ava Kuszak (7) celebrates a walk-off home run during a Women's College World Series softball game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, May 28, 2026.
Nebraska's Ava Kuszak (7) celebrates a walk-off home run during a Women's College World Series softball game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, May 28, 2026. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Nebraska Cornhuskers were 0-for-9 with two outs when Ava Kuszak stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning.

One swing changed everything.

Kuszak launched a two-run home run deep into the Oklahoma City night, giving the Husker a 5-3 win over Arkansas at the Women's College World Series in front of a record crowd of 12,605 at Devon Park.

The win set up a matchup against Alabama on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Arkansas will play UCLA in an elimination game on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

"I just thought it was an incredibly hard-fought battle," said Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle after the game. "It was two teams out there playing to win. Nobody gave an inch.

"It was back and forth the whole night long. So a tip of the hat to Arkansas. They came out here, they battled. We battled. I said earlier in the week I thought it was going to be the team -- we're so razor-thin in the margins; if you look at our statistics, it was going to be one team making one more execution. That's exactly how it played out."

The two teams were nearly identical after seven innings of play.

Arkansas scored two runs on a Kailey Wyckoff home run in the second inning and Nebraska tied it in the fourth when Sammie Bland singled to right and scored Jesse Farrell, who reached on a single. With runners on second and third, Bella Bacon grounded out to second base and drove in Kennadi Williams, who pinch ran for Kacie Hoffmann.

Arkansas took the lead again in the top of the eighth when Reagan Johnson scored from second on a bloop single to left off the bat of Ella McDowell.

But the lead didn't last long because Hannah Coor homered to center to tie things up again in the home half of the frame.

“Really confident and calm,” said Coor about her postseason clutchness. "Just putting all my trust into Jesus and surrounding every victory, every defeat, every home run, every strikeout, just surrendering it all to Him. At the end of the day, this is just a game. It’s not my identity. I find my identity in Christ, Christ alone. Literally giving Him every single ounce of everything.

“Before my home run, I’m on deck praying for God to just slow me down because I was really sped up. I was going too fast. I could feel my heartbeat bouncing out of my chest, asking the Lord to slow me down. Giving everything to Him, every good and bad.”

Coor reached base again in the 10th, getting hit by a pitch and was standing on second base when Kuszak delivered the game-winner.

Through all of the back-and-forth, Jordy Frahm was steady in the circle. She pitched all 10 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out nine batters.

"This team is insane," said Frahm after the win. "Literally, it could be anyone on any given day. Everybody in our lineup is made for the moment. As the pitcher, you're like, All right. Let's do what we can to let someone on this team be in the opportunity to be in the moment when they need to be.

"Tonight it was Hannah Coor, tonight it was Ava Kuszak, it was Sammy Bland, it was Bella Bacon, it was base runners taking extra bases. So many people. Nat (Natalia Hill). I don't know how many balls got hit to left field. Everybody on our team was ready to be on the moment when they were called on. As a pitcher, your greatest responsibility is let that happen, put the team in position to be there."

Robyn Herron took the loss for Arkansas, striking out one while allowing four runs on five hits and a pair of walks in 5.2 innings of work. Payton Burnham allowed just one run on three hits and no walks in four innings of work.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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