Nebraska softball head coach Rhonda Revelle said she’s taking in all the emotions after the No. 4 Huskers advanced to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2013.
The Huskers (51-6, 23-1 Big Ten) hosted Oklahoma State (41-17, 16-8 Big 12) at the first ever Super Regional in Lincoln Friday and Saturday, sweeping the Cowgirls in the best-of-three series. They won game one 8-1 then run ruled the Cowgirls 9-1 in game two.
“We want to continue to make something special happen,” Revelle said Monday afternoon. “This has been an incredible run, and I’m certainly not going to jump ahead by any stretch, but I let myself have a moment this morning and just feel it, because Ava (Kuszak’s) right. There’ve been just so many things along the way that we haven’t even had time to pause and go, ‘That was really an important moment, that was really an important moment,’ because it really had to be onto the next. There will be time to talk about all that, but I did let myself have about an hour this morning just to play some good music and just feel it all. It was pretty overwhelming.”
In 2025, Nebraska came up just short of the WCWS, falling to Tennessee in the Knoxville Super Regional. Revelle said she received a lot of messages and felt the love after winning the first Super Regional game.
“I thought, you know what, if we get ourselves in that situation again I need to make sure that I’ve got parameters around my emotions, because I’m an emotional person,” Revelle said. “So, I think I’ve just put the guard rails up a little bit, but yet this is really special. I’ve been doing this for how many years, and it’s just the fourth time I’ve been able to be with the team and go to Oklahoma City. So, it is really special.”
On Saturday, Nebraska learned it will play No. 5 Arkansas in its first game of the WCWS on Friday. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Payton Burnham and senior left-handed hurler Robyn Herron lead the way for the 47-11 Razorbacks.
“They’ve built a roster that, up and down through the lineup, they can hit,” Revelle said. “I said this about Oklahoma State, but I really feel this about Arkansas. I look at our teams on paper, and you just take away the names, numbers wise we match up really similarly. I think it’s going to be a really hard-fought battle. I have a lot of respect for the coaches, and they’ll prepare. I think it’s going to come down to who executes more pitches in the moment.”
The team arrived in Oklahoma City on Tuesday to begin practice. Revelle said she wants the players to focus on themselves.
“The decibel levels are going to be different, the security’s going to be different, it’s going to be different,” Revelle said. “I want them to be able to take it all in and feel it and have that moment where it’s a little bit overwhelming, and then we’re back. We’re back to us. When we’re back to us, I think they will be back to them, and then we can go ahead and start competing.”
All-American two-way senior Jordy Frahm echoed the sentiment.
“I feel like we’re going to do just fine,” Frahm said Saturday afternoon. “We’ve played in big moments, big high-pressure, energizing settings this year, and we just keep our head down and we keep working. So that’s just going to be our focus is not changing too much, if anything at all, and just stick with our consistency.”
The Huskers will rely on their experienced WCWS players. Senior center fielder Hannah Coor and Frahm both played for Oklahoma. Coor won three national championships with the Sooners and Frahm won two.
Senior shortstop Ava Kuszak said that Coor and Frahm spoke in front of the team on Monday.
“The biggest thing is just taking that environment in, and then after that two minutes of taking that all in move on, just lock in on what we need to do,” Kuszak said. “I think Hannah said it best: we’re not changing, but the place is changing. All you have to do is focus on us, and we don’t have to change a single thing about us.”
Kuszak said that sticking to their schedule and keeping the atmosphere the same will help the team stay focused.
“I think practice, we’ve always just kind of had a fast-paced practice to make us get our heart rates up, get us feeling like we’re in a high pressure situation, and then we’re ready to play once that happens,” Kuszak said.
Nebraska is also hoping to see a lot of Husker fans in Oklahoma City. Revelle said she wants them to feel the joy of the team.
“I hope that when people watch Nebraska softball, they see a team that’s full of heart and hustle, they see a team that plays really for the love of the game, they see a team that wants to inspire the crowd with the joy that they play with,” Revelle said. “That’s not the primary goal, but it’s the secondary goal, because I just think in the world, if you go to a sporting event, you go to be entertained. If you can be entertained and also feel something — I think about things that are meaningful in life, and it’s a feeling. It’s not a head thing, it’s like a feeling, it’s things you can’t describe.
“There’s a phrase that you may not remember what people say to you, but you’re always going to remember how they make you feel. Well, you go watch Nebraska softball, and you may not remember the score or a certain play, but if you know how you felt when you were there, I think that’s a win right there.”
As for what Kuszak wants to see in Oklahoma City, it’s simple.
“I’m expecting to see a lot of red, and I’m excited for it,” Kuszak said. “I think it’s just going to be an amazing environment, and I just can’t wait to take it in with all my girls.”
Nebraska will take on Arkansas on Friday. First pitch is set for 8:30 p.m. CT, airing on ESPN2 and the Huskers Radio Network.
