Arkansas Softball Rolls Duke 14-5 in Fayetteville Super Regional Opener
arkansas softball beat No. 12 Duke 14-5 in five innings Friday afternoon at Bogle Park, opening the 2026 Fayetteville Super Regional with a run-rule win. No. 5 Arkansas is now one win from the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth.
Bogle Park After the Delay
The game started at 11:05 a.m. and went into a rain delay at 11:50 a.m. with Duke leading 3-2, two outs away from the end of the inning and runners on first and second base. When play resumed after a 4 hours and 10 minutes stoppage, Arkansas answered with five runs in the bottom of the second and took control.
Tianna Bell drove that inning with a grand slam, and Dakota Kennedy added a solo home run. Arkansas scored three more in the bottom of the third and four in the fifth, finishing the game when Karlie Davison hit a three-run home run.
Kennedy, Bell, and McDowell
Kennedy led the offense by going 3-for-4 with a solo home run and four RBI. Bell finished 2-for-3 with the grand slam and a walk, while Ella McDowell scored a career-high four runs, tied a career-high with three walks, and drove in a run with a single.
Brinli Bain also added traffic on the bases, going 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and three runs scored. Arkansas finished with 12 hits and tied an NCAA tournament program record with 12 RBI, first set on May 18, 2025, against Oklahoma State.
Run-Rule Streak for Arkansas
The win pushed Arkansas to 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament, and all four victories have come by run rule. That makes the Razorbacks just the second team in NCAA history to open the tournament with four run-rule wins; Arizona did it in 1995 when it run-ruled its first five NCAA Tournament contests.
Arkansas is 46-11 on the season and has a program-record 25 run-rule victories. Its 46 wins are tied with the 1999 team for the most in program history and trail only the 2022 team’s 48 wins.
On the mound, Robyn Herron started for Arkansas and returned in relief to close the victory. She struck out four and allowed three runs on five hits and no walks in 3.2 innings, while Saylor Timmerman improved to 11-2 after allowing two runs on two hits and three walks in 1.1 innings. Cassidy Curd took the loss for Duke and fell to 17-4 after allowing three runs on two hits and two walks in 0.1 innings.
