Arkansas turned a soggy Friday into a statement, beating No. 12 Duke 14-5 in five innings at Bogle Park to open the Fayetteville Super Regional. The No. 5 national seed was down 3-2 when a rain delay stopped play for 4 hours and 10 minutes, then came back with the kind of force that has carried it through the NCAA Tournament.
The Razorbacks scored five runs in the bottom of the second after play resumed, and Tianna Bell delivered the blow with a grand slam. Dakota Kennedy added a solo home run in the inning as Arkansas seized control for good. Duke answered with a run in the third and another in the fourth, but Arkansas kept stacking innings, scoring three more in the third and four in the fifth before Karlie Davison ended it with a three-run home run.
The 14 runs were a program record in the NCAA Tournament, and Arkansas improved to 4-0 in the bracket with all four wins coming by run rule. That makes the Razorbacks only the second team in NCAA history to run-rule its first four NCAA Tournament games, and it leaves them one win from the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth. The opener began at 11:05 a.m. and was suspended at 11:50 a.m. with two outs and runners on first and second for Duke, which led 3-2 at the time.
Arkansas finished with 12 hits and tied an NCAA tournament program record with 12 RBI. Kennedy went 3-for-4 with four RBI, Bell finished 2-for-3 with a grand slam and a walk, Ella McDowell scored a career-high four runs and tied a career-high with three walks, and Brinli Bain was 1-for-2 with a double, two walks and three runs scored. Saylor Timmerman improved to 11-2, while Robyn Herron allowed three runs on five hits with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Cassidy Curd took the loss for Duke and fell to 17-4.
The victory lifted Arkansas to 46-11, tied for the most wins in program history with the 1999 team and trailing only the 2022 squad’s 48. The Razorbacks are 28-3 at home and have already set a program record with 25 run-rule victories. If they get one more win in Fayetteville, they will reach the Women’s College World Series for the first time.
