Ava Kuszak hammered a two-run home run to center field in the bottom of the 10th to propel No. 1 Nebraska softball to a 5-3, 10-inning win over No. 10 Arkansas Thursday in the first round of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. The win was the Cornhuskers’ (52-6) first in the WCWS in 24 years.
Kuszak’s heroics came with two out in the bottom of the 10th. Hannah Coor was hit by a pitch. Two batters later, Kuszak lined a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield fence to send Nebraska to its first win in the WCWS since downing Michigan 1-0 in 2002.
The Razorbacks (47-12), making their first ever appearance in the WCWS, took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, as Kailey Wycoff launched a two-run home run to center. Jordy Frahm rebounded from there, retiring the next 11 batters she faced. The Huskers responded in the bottom of the fourth. Samantha Bland drove in a run with a single to right. Bella Bacon followed with an RBI groundout, tying the game at two.
The game stayed deadlocked unitil the top of the eighth, when Arkansas’ Ella McDowell flared a single off Bland’s glove at third, driving in a run to put the Razorbacks ahead, 3-2. Nebraska answered in the bottom of the eighth, as Hannah Coor drove a one-out, solo homer over the centerfield fence to tie the game at three.
Frahm (21-4) pitched a career-high 10 innings, striking out nine while walking one.
The Huskers now advzance to a matchup Saturday at 6 p.m. against No. 2 Alabama. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on B-107.3.