2026 WCWS: Kuszak's walk-off homer pushes Nebraska past Arkansas
The Nebraska and Arkansas matchup had all the makings to be an instant classic, and it lived up to the hype. Ava Kuszak blasted a two-run homer to end the 10-inning thriller, giving Nebraska a 5-3 win over Arkansas.
“I just thought it was an incredibly hard-fought battle,” Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle said. “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 made one more execution. That’s exactly how it played out.”
The two teams traded blows in the eighth inning. Ella McDowell, who had been hitless against Jordy Frahm, found herself in a favorable 2-0 count. She ended up poking a changeup over the outstretched glove of Samantha Bland for a two-out go-ahead single.
The Cornhuskers wouldn’t go down without a fight. Hannah Coor added to her tremendous postseason, drilling a game-tying solo shot. Nebraska put the game-winning run at third, but Robyn Herron stranded Hannah Camenzind there.
“Really confident and calm,” said Coor about her postseason success. 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.”
In the circle, Frahm was pretty dominant for most of the game. The Razorbacks got on the board early behind a two-run homer by Kailey Wyckoff in the second. Frahm settled in after that. She retired 11 straight batters after the home run before a swinging bunt by Brinli Bain ended the streak. Frahm erased her by turning a nifty double play. Frahm pitched all 10 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out nine batters.
She held Arkansas to 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position; if Bland’s glove was an inch long, it probably would’ve saved another hit. When Frahm was the 2023 WCWS Most Outstanding Player, she was nails in those situations, and that continued on Thursday.
“I’ve experienced two years of her being very consistent with runners in scoring position, with the bases empty,” Revelle said. “What you see is what you get every day. Her consistency is contagious. Her consistency is inspiring because it’s not just consistency, it’s consistency performing in an elite level consistently.”
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Arkansas threatened again in the seventh with the first two batters reaching to start the inning. They moved to second and third for Wyckoff, but Frahm won this battle, getting her to roll over to end the inning.
Herron wiggled her way out of trouble multiple times early. She stranded Frahm after a leadoff single in the first. Nebraska put runners at second and third in the second, but Lauren Camenzind couldn’t find the two-out hit against her former teammate.
Herron found herself in another jam in the fourth. Jesse Farrell singled and advanced to second on a throw from Reagan Johnson, which hit the lip of the grass and took an odd bounce. Kacie Hoffmann moved Farrell to third with an infield single.
Arkansas turned to Payton Burnham, but Samantha Bland finally came through with runners in scoring position, hitting a single to right field to drive in the first Cornhusker run. Bella Bacon did enough grounding out to second base to net the game-tying run.
Burnham cruised the rest of the way, going four innings, allowing one run on three hits. Arkansas went back to Herron in the eighth after Burnham allowed the homer to Coor.
Arkansas will play UCLA in an elimination game on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Nebraska takes on Alabama on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
