Ava Kuszak walk-off home run leads No. 4 Nebraska softball past No. 5 Arkansas in 10 innings

Mark Fischer,
Hjde6ozwiaumy0n
Courtesy Nebraska Athletics

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The No. 4-ranked Nebraska softball team topped No. 5 Arkansas in extra innings on Thursday night, beating the Razorbacks 5-3 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.


In the bottom of the 10th inning, senior captain Ava Kuszak hit a walk-off 2-run home run to give the Huskers their first Women’s College World Series win since 2002.

As a team, Nebraska racked up eight hits and committed one error, while the Razorbacks also totaled eight hits and committed one error.


Arkansas struck first in the top of the second inning, as Kailey Wyckoff hit a 2-run shot to left-center field to give the Razorbacks an early 2-0 lead.

Nebraska responded in the bottom of the fourth inning, starting off with a Bland RBI single to right field, making the score 2-1 Razorbacks.

Bella Bacon also made an impact in the inning, tying the game 2-2 with a groundout to second base, scoring Kennadi Williams.

In the top of the eighth inning, Ella McDowell hit a single just over Samantha Bland’s glove to bring in Johnson, giving the Razorbacks a 3-2 lead.

Nebraska wasn’t done, though. Hannah Coor hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game at 3 and force more softball.


Bland led the Huskers from the plate with a 2-for-3 showing and one RBI. Frahm, Coor, Hannah Camenzind, Kuszak, and Farrell each had one hit.

Kuszak led Nebraska in RBIs with two.

Frahm held down the circle for the entirety of the game, pitching 10 innings while striking out nine batters. She threw 133 total pitches.

With the win, Nebraska moves to the winner’s bracket, matching up with No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.

First pitch for that game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Categories: Husker Sports, Sports
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Download the Channel 8 News app

Related