OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Ava Kuszak hit a walk-off two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning and Jordy Frahm pitched a complete game as Nebraska outlasted Arkansas 5-3 on Thursday in the nightcap of the opening round of the Women’s College World Series.
No. 4 seed Nebraska (52-6) extended its winning streak to 27 and will play top-seeded Alabama on Saturday. No. 5 seed Arkansas (47-12), playing in its first WCWS, will play an elimination game against eighth-seeded UCLA on Friday.
Hannah Coor, who hit tying solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, was hit by a Robyn Herron pitch with one out. Kuszak followed with her 15th homer. It was the first two-out hit by the Cornhuskers.
Frahm allowed three runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts in a career-high 10 innings. She threw a career-best 133 pitches. Frahm won two championships pitching for Oklahoma before transferring home to Nebraska after the 2023 season. She went 44-2 with a 0.99 ERA in the two title runs.
Kennedy Miller singled leading off the eighth before scoring on a base hit by Ella McDowell to put the Razorbacks in front 3-2. Coor homered off Payton Burnham with one out to tie it.
Dakota Kennedy singled leading off the second and Kailey Wyckoff followed with a two-out homer — her eighth — to put Arkansas ahead 2-0. It was just the second home run surrendered by Frahm in 10 WCWS appearances and snapped a 28-inning scoreless streak in the event.
Herron left in favor of Payton Burnham with one out and runners on the corners in the fourth. Samantha Bland greeted Burnham with an RBI single and Bella Bacon’s RBI groundout tied it 2-2.
Herron (16-7) allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Burnham surrendered one run on three hits in four innings.
It was Nebraska’s first walk-off win at the WCWS since 1982 and their first victory at the event in 24 years. The Cornhuskers put an end to a 13-year drought with their eighth overall appearance.
Arkansas run-ruled its first five opponents in the tournament, outscoring them 51-10.
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