Nebraska softball turned a Wednesday night dinner into a one-of-a-kind sendoff for Rhonda Revelle, then stopped her cold with a video call from Tanya Tucker before the team’s Women’s College World Series opener. Revelle’s jaw dropped open when Tucker appeared on the big screen, a close-up moment that captured the surprise before the coach asked the country singer to join in on “Delta Dawn.”

The timing gave the celebration extra weight. Nebraska was getting ready for its first Women’s College World Series appearance since 2013, and the Huskers were set to open against Arkansas on Thursday. Both teams entered the tournament having never been to the WCWS, which made the matchup feel like a milestone on both sides even before the first pitch.

For Nebraska, though, the night belonged to a song that has followed Revelle for years. “Delta Dawn” is her personal favorite and has become an anthem for this season’s players, too, after they sang it again when they knocked off Oklahoma State in the super regionals. On Wednesday, Revelle asked Tucker to sing it with a lead-in from “Amazing Grace,” and Tucker agreed after being pulled into the dinner by video call.

That is what made the moment land: it was not a staged pregame clip, but a team tradition meeting the person who made the song famous. Revelle’s reaction showed how much the connection meant, and Tucker’s appearance tied the celebration to a memory the Nebraska players are likely to carry with them well past Thursday’s opener.

The Huskers still had the harder task ahead. Arkansas was waiting in the first game, and Nebraska’s return to the WCWS after 2013 came with the pressure that always follows a long absence. But before the bracket and the innings, the night gave Revelle and her team something simpler and harder to script — a dinner, a song, and a surprise that made the eve of the tournament feel unmistakably theirs.