Nebraska softball star Ava Kuszak launched a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning in Thursday's WCWS bracket action, notching a 5-3 comeback win over Arkansas at the 2026 Women's College World Series.
The dramatic finish sends the Cornhuskers into the WCWS winner's bracket while dropping Arkansas into elimination contention.
It also extends Nebraska's nation-leading winning streak to 27 games, with the team's last loss dating back to late March.
Nebraska Softball Makes History in Extra-Innings WCWS Thriller
Arkansas softball struck first in the second inning, as Kailey Wyckoff launched a two-run home run.
The blast snapped a historic streak for Nebraska ace Jordy Frahm, marking the first WCWS scores she's allowed in 28 innings — a stretch dating back to her time with Oklahoma softball.
However, the Cornhuskers rallied late to force extra frames, kept alive by a clutch solo home run from Hannah Coor in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kuszak subsequently sealed the victory in the 10th, keeping the team's historic winning streak intact.
"Right when it hit her bat, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, we just won the freaking game,'" Coor said of her teammate's dinger.
Nebraska vs Arkansas Impacts Softball World Series Bracket
Thursday's WCWS scores set up a pair of high-stakes weekend matchups, as the softball world series cruises through the 2026 bracket.
Nebraska moves on to face top-seeded Alabama in the winner's bracket on Saturday evening. Arkansas, meanwhile, advances to a Friday night elimination game against big-swinging UCLA softball.
Fans can watch every 2026 WCWS matchup on ESPN.
Alabama softball opened the 2026 Women's College World Series with a decisive 6-3 victory on Thursday, taking the Alabama vs UCLA softball win in stride.
The win advances Alabama into the WCWS winner's bracket, while UCLA drops to the elimination side of the softball world series.
Brooke Wells Powers Alabama Softball Over UCLA
Another offensive surge in the middle innings helped the Crimson Tide score the WCWS victory.
Outfielder Brooke Wells delivered the definitive blow, launching a crucial three-run home run that broke the game open. Wells finished the day with four RBIs, spearheading an Alabama lineup that capitalized on key scoring opportunities.
The Bruins attempted a late-game rally, utilizing their signature power hitting to put runners on base. However, Alabama's defense executed critical plays to stifle the tying runs, securing the opening-round victory.
Crimson Tide head coach Patrick Murphy credited the team's performance to Alexis Pupillo and Wells's batting percentages, in addition to well as SEC Pitcher of the Year Jocelyn Briski's control at the plate.
"I thought it was a really well-played game," Murphy said afterwards.
"Briski did an incredible job of pitching through a little adversity… I felt like we were just missing a couple early in the game, then Brooke connected and so did Pupillo."
Latest WCWS Scores Shape the Softball World Series Bracket
With the 6-3 win, Alabama advance to face Nebraska on Saturday, May 30th. The Cornhuskers similarly emerged victorious from their opening day match, winning Thursday's Nebraska vs Arkansas softball match 5-3 to send Arkansas to tonight's elimination showdown.
Meanwhile, UCLA and Arkansas must now navigate the WCWS elimination bracket to keep their championship hopes alive. The Bruins take on the Razorbacks tonight at 9:30 PM ET, live on ESPN.
Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) made a historic move this week, signing Tennessee senior pitcher Karlyn Pickens to the first-ever NIL deal with a pro league seen in the NCAA sport.
As part of her contract, Pickens will use social media and participate in other marketing opportunities to promote the newly expanded AUSL as the premier place for NCAA athletes to launch their professional softball careers.
"When I was growing up, I didn't really see [pro] softball… I didn't really think there was an option to go pro," said the Lady Vols star in Wednesday's AUSL announcement. "It's been just a few years, and now everyone's dream is to go to AUSL and continue their softball career."
After kicking off her NCAA tenure as the 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year, the two-time All-American and reigning Softball American Pitcher of the Year posted a 1.17 ERA across her 44 appearances last season, leading the Lady Vols from the circle all the way to the Women's College World Series semifinals in Oklahoma City.
Pickens also shattered records along the way, becoming the first collegiate ace to top Tennessee legend Monica Abbott's fastest NCAA pitch mark of 77mph from 2012 with a 78.2mph throw last March — before breaking her own record by hurling a blistering 79.4mph pitch at the Super Regionals last May.
Making NIL history this week is likely the 22-year-old's first step with the AUSL, which recently locked its six teams into home cities across the US last month — including assigning the Blaze to Pickens's home state of North Carolina.
"I never would've imagined that the pro softball league is what it is now, but it's also come to my home state," said Pickens.
How to watch new AUSL NIL athlete Karlyn Pickens
Pickens will kick off her senior season with No. 4-ranked Tennessee at this week's 2026 NFCA Leadoff Classic, where the Vols' slate includes clashes against No. 23 Liberty and No. 5 Oregon, among others.
Tennessee will begin the invitational against unranked BYU at 7 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage of the tilt streaming on GameChanger.
Texas softball made program history on Friday, winning the 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) to claim a first-ever national championship in their eighth trip to Oklahoma City.
The No. 6-seed Longhorns completed the best-of-three championship series with a dominant 10-4 victory over No. 12-seed Texas Tech, setting a program wins record with 56 on the season.
"This is why I came to Texas," said grad student first baseman Joely Mitchell following the championship win. "This is everything I dreamed of as a kid."
Anchored by star sophomore pitcher Teagan Kavan — who took home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after not allowing a single earned run in the nearly 32 WCWS innings she threw — Texas's title is the SEC's first in 10 years. The Longhorns now join only Florida and Alabama in the conference's elite NCAA softball champions club.
The Longhorn bats led the charge on Friday, plating five runs in the first inning — the most allowed in a single inning by Red Raiders superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady in her three-season NCAA career.
While that initial push ended up being enough to seal the win, senior third baseman Mia Scott put an exclamation mark on the victory by blasting a fourth-inning grand slam, notably doing so with a torn ACL.
2025 WCWS sets attendance, viewership records
The Longhorns' historic title run wasn't just a victory for Texas, however, as the 2025 WCWS claimed additional wins far beyond the Lone Star State.
With 119,778 fans packing into Oklahoma City's Devon Park across the nine-day competition, the 2025 tournament broke the WCWS attendance record.
The record-shattering didn't end there, as an average of 2.1 million viewers tuned into Thursday's championship series clash, making it the most-watched WCWS finals Game 2 in history — and the fifth most-watched NCAA softball game ever on ESPN platforms.
The rising value of college softball is also impacting players' bank accounts, with rising senior Canady reportedly inking a second seven-figure NIL deal to remain with Texas Tech prior to Friday's decisive Game 3.
"I've been around a lot of softball players, I've never been around a better teammate and a better person," Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco said about Canady following Friday's game. "She's an unbelievable talent. I believe she's the top player in college softball.... Her standards for everything is excellence."
The attendance, viewership, and NIL wins aren't just boosts for collegiate softball. The sport's rise is also fueling a new professional venture, with former NCAA stars launching pro league AUSL on Saturday — strategically timed to capitalize on the momentum of a historic 2025 WCWS.
The 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS) are headed to a winner-take-all Game 3, as Texas Tech evened this week's best-of-three championship series with a 4-3 victory over Texas on Thursday.
Anchored by another gutsy performance from star pitcher NiJaree Canady, the Red Raiders capitalized on missteps by the Longhorns, plating their four runs thanks to a hit-by-pitch, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly, and a fielding error.
Down but not out, Texas broke through with a sixth-inning home run from star senior Mia Scott before plating two more in the game's final frame.
With the tying run just 60 feet away, Canady locked in, ending the Longhorns' threat with a strike-out to claim Texas Tech's first season win over their state rivals at just the right time, keeping the Red Raiders' national title hopes alive.
"NiJa was huge," said Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco about his ace's Game 2 performance. "She went out there and pitched her tail off."
Canady likely to toss every Texas Tech pitch at WCWS
After Wednesday's botched intentional walk put Texas within one win of the NCAA trophy, Canady bounced back by again assuming control in the circle, tossing every Texas Tech pitch for the seventh postseason games in a row — a streak dating back to the Red Raiders' first Super Regional game.
"Obviously [Wednesday] night wasn't my best game. I feel like this game wasn't my best game, either," said Canady, despite stifling Texas's late surge. "I was just leaving it out on the field."
Glasco will undoubtedly tap Canady to throw Friday's decisive clash as well, with Texas Tech's championship hopes resting on their $1 million player.
Should she complete Game 3 and secure a program-first national championship in the process, Canady will become the first pitcher since 2012 Alabama ace Jackie Traina to toss every WCWS pitch for a title-winning team.
On the other hand, Texas's four-pitcher bullpen game means sophomore ace Teagan Kavan — who threw just two outs on Thursday night — should be fresh and ready to test the Red Raiders in the final game of the 2025 NCAA softball season.
How to watch the 2025 WCWS championship game
The decisive Game 3 of the 2025 WCWS championship series will take the field in Oklahoma City at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ESPN.
Texas softball took Game 1 of the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS) championship series by topping in-state rivals Texas Tech 2-1 on Wednesday night, putting the Longhorns just one win away from clinching a program-first national championship.
"It's tight, especially when you're facing a good pitcher," said Texas catcher Reese Atwood, who delivered the game-winning hit. "Any momentum, any energy, we'll take it."
After a controversial obstruction call gifted Texas Tech a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth, a rare misstep from Red Raiders ace NiJaree Canady gave Texas the daylight they needed to pull ahead.
With two Longhorns in scoring position and Atwood — the nation's RBI leader — stepping to the plate, Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco decided to take advantage of the vacant first base by instructing Canady to intentionally walk Atwood.
Noticing that Canady's intentional balls were dangerously close to the strike zone, Atwood capitalized, launching a game-winning two-run single on a 3-0 count — her first hit of the WCWS.
"Maybe it was the wrong decision. Maybe we should've went at her," said Glasco following the loss.
With up to two games left to play, the 2025 WCWS has already been a huge hit, averaging 1.1 million viewers on ESPN before the championship series even began — the network's highest pre-finals viewership on record.
While this year's NCAA tournament chases even more viewership history, Texas Tech will be hunting a Game 2 win to keep their championship dreams alive.
How to watch Game 2 of the 2025 WCWS championship series
The Red Raiders and Longhorns will square off again at 8 PM ET in Thursday's Game 2 of the best-of-three series, airing live on ESPN.
The Lone Star State is now ruling the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS), with the Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders taking the NCAA softball field for the national tournament's best-of-three championship series for the first time on Wednesday night.
No. 6-seed Texas reached the final round with a 2-0 semifinal win over SEC foe No. 7 Tennessee on Monday, while No. 12 Texas Tech denied defending champion Oklahoma a chance to extend their historic record, ending the No. 2 seed's hunt for a fifth straight NCAA title with a dramatic 3-2 semifinal ousting.
Pitching will take center stage throughout the championship series, as the regional rivals each boast a stellar ace in the circle in Texas Tech transfer junior and this season's National Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady and Texas star sophomore Teagan Kavan.
Texas packs experience against Cinderella Texas Tech
While both programs are searching for their first-ever national championship, the more experienced Longhorns have the edge entering this week's competition.
This year marks Texas's eighth overall trip to the WCWS and the Longhorns' third championship series appearance in the last four years, having fallen to Oklahoma in both 2022 and 2024.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech is still blazing trails through brand-new territory, adding a WCWS finals debut to an already-historic 2025 run that included the Red Raiders' first Super Regional appearance and win, and first-ever WCWS berth.
The Longhorns also own this season's head-to-head record over the Red Raiders, snagging two wins over Texas Tech in February.
However, while Kavan threw both those games, including an 11-0 run-rule victory, Canady only featured in one — a narrow 2-1 extra-inning Texas Tech loss in which the deciding run crossed on a throwing error.
Though the Red Raiders are technically the underdogs of this week's championship series, the likely pitchers' duel between Canady and Kavan means that the 2025 WCWS title is anyone's for the taking.
How to watch the 2025 WCWS championship series
The best-of-three 2025 WCWS championship series between Texas and Texas Tech starts on Wednesday, with Game 2 set for Thursday and, if necessary, a winner-take-all final tilt on deck for Friday.
All of the 2025 WCWS championship series clashes will begin at 8 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.
The Sooners' hunt for a fifth straight NCAA softball title is officially over, as No. 12-seed Texas Tech ousted No. 2-seed Oklahoma 3-2 in Monday's 2025 semifinals to book a trip to their first-ever Women's College World Series (WCWS) finals.
With a total of eight national championships under their belt, this year's WCWS marks Oklahoma's earliest exit since 2018.
Calling it "a great privilege" to play the modern dynasty that is Oklahoma softball, Red Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco said "This was our chance at forever — to leave a legacy at Texas Tech that will be remembered forever. Our team has done that. They've left a legacy."
Seventh-inning heroics end in dramatic Texas Tech victory
Prior to this season, the Red Raiders had never advanced out of the Regional round in their six previous appearances in the NCAA tournament.
With the addition of Stanford transfer and 2025 National Pitcher of the Year NiJaree Canady — college softball's first $1 million player — Texas Tech has put together a magical run all the way to this week's best-of-three championship series.
Canady's seven-inning showing on Monday nearly clinched the Red Raiders win, as the ace protected Texas Tech's second-inning 2-0 lead until the game's final frame.
Down to their last strike, junior outfielder Abigale Dayton played hero for the Sooners, blasting a two-run homer to tie the score and keep Oklahoma's hopes alive in the top of the seventh.
The bottom of the inning, however, was all Texas Tech, as Raiders first baseman Lauren Allred popped up a deep-enough sacrifice fly to score junior centerfielder Mihyia Davis from third, walking off the 3-2 win.
"Honestly, it was a very cinematic way to go out," Oklahoma first baseman Cydney Sanders — one of just three seniors on the young 2025 Sooners' squad — said of Monday night's late-inning WCWS dramatics.
2025 WCWS will crown a first-ever national champion
This week's championship series, which kicks off on Wednesday night, will now be an all-Texas affair, after the No. 6-seed Texas Longhorns also advanced with a 2-0 Monday win over No. 7-seed Tennessee.
Not only will the 2025 NCAA trophy be heading to the Lone Star State, this year's tournament will also crown a first-time victor: Despite their seven previous WCWS appearances and a now-third trip to the championship series in the last four years, the Longhorns — like the Red Raiders — have yet to hoist softball's national hardware.
The 2025 Women's College World Series begins today, with the sport's most prestigious organizations taking advantage of this week's NCAA softball spotlight to bestow awards on the season's top athletes.
Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis earned USA Softball's 2025 Collegiate Player of the Year title on Tuesday, with the senior beating out a shortlist that included Nebraska pitcher Jordy Bahl and Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady — who won the award in her 2024 sophomore season.
A menace at the plate, Ellis led the NCAA in on-base (.639) and slugging percentages (1.090). She finished the year with 26 home runs — the third-most in the nation — while racking up 72 RBIs, both setting single-season records for the Razorbacks.
Wednesday saw both Bahl and Canady take home hardware of their own, with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association naming the Nebraska redshirt junior their 2025 National Player of the Year while the Texas Tech transfer snagged Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season.
A two-time national champion with Oklahoma before transferring to the Cornhuskers, Bahl is the only player to rank in the Top 10 for both batting average and ERA, claiming multiple program records at the plate while tossing 26 wins from the circle. This season, she became just the fifth Division I athlete to ever record 20+ wins and 20+ home runs in a single campaign.
Another two-way titan, Canady leads the nation with a lights-out 0.89 ERA on the season, allowing a Division I-low of 3.65 hits per seven innings while leading the Red Raiders in long-ball production with 11 home runs.
How to watch the winners of the 2025 college softball awards
Despite their individual achievements, only Canady's Texas Tech survived last weekend's Super Regionals, meaning fans must wait until the 2026 NCAA season to catch rising Nebraska senior Bahl back in action.
It's a shorter wait to watch Ellis, however, as the Arkansas grad will begin her pro career with the Talons in the brand-new Athletes Unlimited Softball League, which starts its inaugural season on June 7th.
As for Canady, she'll look to take the Red Raiders on a deep run in Oklahoma City. No. 12-seed Texas Tech will face unseeded Ole Miss in both teams' first-ever WCWS game at 7 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on ESPN2.
SEC firepower will fuel the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS), as No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and unseeded Ole Miss all advanced out of this weekend's Super Regionals to book trips to Oklahoma City.
The SEC's five teams ties the record for most WCWS-bound squads from a single conference, with the additions of former Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas notably boosting the league's WCWS roster this year.
Big Ten newcomers No. 9 UCLA and No. 16 Oregon plus the Big 12's No. 12 Texas Tech round out the eight teams entering the double-elimination tournament later this week, all battling for one of two spots in next week's best-of-three championship series.
Despite coming into the postseason as the No. 2 seed, the Sooners are still the team to beat as they hunt their fifth straight NCAA softball title.
With their 18th program ticket to OKC, Oklahoma's consistency in advancing to the national championship's last stop is dwarfed only by UCLA: The Bruins have appeared in 34 editions of the WCWS, missing the final cut only nine times in NCAA history.
In contrast, both Ole Miss and Texas Tech will be making their WCWS debuts after upsetting top seeds last weekend.
The Rebels, who first eliminated No. 13 Arizona in Regionals, outlasted No. 4 Arkansas to book their first-ever WCWS trip on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders are flying high behind transfer pitcher and 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady, emerging victorious in their first-ever Super Regional with two straight wins over No. 5 Florida State.
How to watch the 2025 Women's College World Series
Oklahoma City veterans and debutants alike will begin their WCWS campaigns on Thursday, when all teams will contend in the tournament's initial four games.
Kicking off the 2025 WCWS is an all-SEC afternoon session, with No. 6 Texas facing No. 3 Florida at 12 PM ET before No. 7 Tennessee takes on No. 2 Oklahoma at 2:30 PM ET.
Evening play pits the newcomers against each other as Ole Miss clashes with No. 12 Texas Tech at 7 PM ET, with a Big Ten battle between No. 16 Oregon and No. 9 UCLA closing out the night at 9:30 PM ET.
Live coverage of the afternoon games will air on ESPN, with ESPN2 broadcasting the two evening matchups.