Everything Courtney Deifel Said After Arkansas’ Walk-Off Loss to Nebraska

Arkansas suffered its first heartbreaking moment in its first Women’s College World Series when Nebraska’s Ava Kuszak hit a walk-off home run late Thursday night.

It was an exciting game for everyone that made it worth staying up late enough for the calendar to change to Friday, but now the Razorbacks are one loss away from having their season come to an end. They’ll need to regroup quickly with a matchup against UCLA set for 8:30 p.m.

After Thursday’s first-round game, Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel spoke to the media about the Cornhuskers’ 5-3 win, including taking the blame for a game-changing pitch. Here’s everything she said.

Courtney Deifel, Head Coach

Opening Statement…

I just thought it was a heck of a game. It was a big-time World Series game that we just weren’t on the winning end of. I was proud of our players’ fight. I was proud of how poised they were on this stage. And we will turn the page and get ready to fight our butts off.

On pitchers Robyn Herron and Payton Burnham…

I just saw a lot of fight. I saw comfort in the moment. I saw competitiveness in them. I think they gave it all to us tonight. I think the change (up) that I called for against Hannah Coor is going to haunt my dreams. She executed the pitch. That’s on me as the pitch caller. But I was just proud of our entire team tonight. They fought their butts off. They put it all out there, and that’s all we could ever ask. It just didn’t go our way.

1-2-3, that's enough for P

E5 | Arkansas 2, Nebraska 2 pic.twitter.com/TC6utbwJp1

— Arkansas Softball (@RazorbackSB) May 29, 2026

On regrouping for Friday…

This stings for us. While we were waiting our turn to come in, I was going through some text messages and seeing that there was record attendance, and knowing that both teams were going to travel and show up for us. I was so impressed. I don’t know why, because that’s what our fans have continued to do. Our fans were incredible. You could hear it. Like Peyton said, it was electric.

Considering all of that, and this being our first time, I cannot say enough how proud I am of this team. Their composure, their fight, just putting their hearts out there — it was an emotional loss for us. It’s a quick turnaround, so for us, it’s just turning the page, diving into the prep and resting. Our players need to get home. They need to rest. They need to eat. They need to do all those things. Then we’ll go about it like we do every other day and fight for our lives.

Ella McDowell: ELITE Ballplayer

She puts us in front with an RBI single!

T8 | Arkansas 3, Nebraska 2 pic.twitter.com/Jy7IXcF9Cr

— Arkansas Softball (@RazorbackSB) May 29, 2026

On both teams being even with one another…

I think when you look at the prep, they’re explosive offensively. They have pitchers who are dialed in and have the ability to keep you off balance. They defend as well as we do. So we knew it was going to be a battle. I thought both teams played exceptionally well. They both put their hearts out there, as we would expect from a team coached by Rhonda Revelle and her staff.

On any comfort knowing Arkansas hasn’t lost back-to-back games…

I don’t think comfort is the right word. Our team has responded so well all year, and I know this is sitting with them. You could see it on their faces. The sun is going to come up tomorrow, and like Kaylee said, if we have an out, then we have a chance. Seeing how this team fought tonight, I choose them every day. We’re going to give it everything we have tomorrow.