Arkansas must now take down home run loving UCLA to keep dream alive
A familiar feeling sank over the room. That morose look had settled into their eyes and the tone of their voices had drifted into a steady yo-yo of sure defeat followed by the brief, fleeting rise of hope.
Finally, the room took on all the characteristics of last year’s College World Series loss to LSU, just with roughly half the people present watching Courtney Deifel’s Razorbacks desperately cling to life in extra innings after seemingly having their first ever Women’s College World Series game in the bag with only two outs left in the eighth.
It was time to send the tweet.
Then, 23 minutes later, the tradition of living “almost” moments as dedicated followers of the baseball team swallowed the softball faithful as well. A two-run shot by infielder Ava Kuszak drifted over the fence in Oklahoma City, and thus began the first of what Arkansas fans are probably certain will be a lifetime of disappointing memories, began for a new Razorbacks sport.
The No. 5 seed Razorbacks fell to the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers, 5-3, in a tense 10-inning thriller during the Hogs’ first Women’s College World Series game in program history at Devon Park. Even though Arkansas was already making history simply by stepping on the field, a massive contingent of Razorbacks fans joined an equally large group from Nebraska to form of a record crowd of 12,605 that went back and forth at one another, getting louder with each minute that ticked by closer to midnight.
The Razorbacks held things in an uneasy, although rather steady, control for the first four innings of the game. Robyn Herron kept the Nebraska bats quiet from the mound, Ella McDowell was quick to pull off electrifying plays down the line at third and Kailey Wyckoff handled the run support with a two-run shot in the top of the second inning that had just enough pop to clear the fence in right-center.
The home run put Nebraska ace pitcher Jordy Frahm, known to most as her former unmarried name, Jordy Ball, in an unfamiliar position — behind on the scoreboard. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Herron got a tad wobbly, allowing a pairing of runners on after getting the lead-off to ground out.
That’s when Deifel chose to change philosophical approaches, bringing in sophomore Payton Burnham, a ground out pitcher in contrast to Herron’s more strikeout driven focus. Overall, it was a great decision as Burnham began to mow through Cornhuskers’ line-up.
However, Samantha Bland singled to right to score a run before Burnham settled in to get out 12 consecutive hitters, one of whom grounded out to bring home Kennadi Williams to tie the game 2-2, a score that held into extra innings.
That’s when the Razorbacks finally got their moment to secure their first ever WCWS victory. Reagan Johnson managed to use her speed to get into scoring position with two outs in the eighth, the amount of outs Arkansas faced each time it scored Thursday night.
That set the stage for McDowell to use her bat rather than her glove to be the hero this time. She drove a liner down the left field line that squeezed between three Cornhuskers, allowing Johnson to score easily.
All Arkansas needed was to keep rolling defensively and get the three outs needed to sew things up. That’s when Burnham finally gave up another hit, a home run to Hannah Coor.
Deifel then turned back to Herron who held Nebraska at bay for a couple of innings while giving the offense a chance, but the weight of the moment began to be too much for Arkansas. It was clear where things were headed.
Arkansas will again be up late Friday at 8:30 p.m. to face UCLA in the elimination game on ESPN. The Bruins are similar to the Georgia Bulldogs on the baseball side.
They rely heavily on their ability to hit home runs seemingly at will and will also lean on a single pitcher in Taylor Tinsley. If Arkansas can time her up, then there’s a good chance the Razorbacks advance to the 6 p.m. Sunday game against the loser of the Nebraska-Alabama game.
If they can’t, the long balls could make this ugly.
Arkansas Postgame Press Conference:
The Razorbacks’ portion of the press conference begins at the 29:00 mark.
Side Notes:
- Arkansas played its first extra-inning game in over three years. That was a 2-1 win over Alabama on March 20, 2023.
- Reagan Johnson set a school record with her 80th career multi-hit game.
- Arkansas is now 29-29 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including a 22-17 mark under Deifel.Â
