Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Up Next for Arkansas Softball

Hunter Corneliusen February 19, 2025

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks look to build off a program-record 10-0 start by traveling to Cathedral City, Calif.., this Thursday-Saturday (Feb. 20-22) for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, where the Razorbacks will play a total of five games against Rutgers, Cal State Fullerton, Loyola Marymount, Baylor and No. 4 UCLA.

Arkansas will open play on Thursday with Rutgers at 11:30 a.m. (CT) and Cal State Fullerton at 2 p.m. (CT). Friday features an 8 p.m. (CT) matchup with Loyola Marymount before concluding play on Saturday against Baylor (Noon CT) and No. 4 UCLA (5 p.m. CT).

All five games will be streamed on the subscription-based platform FloCollege.

LEADING OFF

The Razorbacks are off to a program-record 10-0 start and coming off a dominant weekend at the LA Tech Classic, which saw Arkansas earn a run-rule win in all five games. The Razorbacks are outscoring opponents 94-14.
The Razorbacks will be participating in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic for the fourth time in program history, all of which have come with Courtney Deifel at the helm. Arkansas previously participated in the event in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The Hogs own an all-time record of 12-1 in the event, highlighted by a 5-0 showing in 2018.

PRESENCE IN THE POLLS

Arkansas checked in at No. 10 in the NFCA/GoRout Coaches, Softball America and ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 polls while being ranked ninth in the D1 Softball Top 25 Poll.
The Razorbacks have been ranked in the Top 25 of the NFCA Coaches poll for a program-best 74 consecutive weeks dating back to the start of the 2020 season. Arkansas is one of eight programs nationally to have appeared in the Top 25 of every NFCA Coaches Poll since the start of the 2020 season, joining Oklahoma, Florida, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Alabama and Florida State.

HISTORY LESSON

Arkansas is 4-0 all-time against Rutgers and took the last matchup 4-0 on Feb. 10, 2022 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Senior Spencer Prigge is the only active Razorback who saw action in the game, drawing a walk in the win.
The Razorbacks and Cal State Fullerton will be meeting for just the second time. The Titans won the lone prior meeting 8-1 on March 19, 2016.
Arkansas owns a 7-1 all-time record against Loyola Marymount and won the last meeting 6-5 courtesy of a Linnie Malkin walk-off single on Feb. 18, 2018, at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
The Hogs and Bears are tied 3-3 all-time in their series. Arkansas defeated Baylor 11-7 on Feb. 12, 2023, in the most recent matchup. Atalyia Rijo recorded a career-high three hits in the victory.
Arkansas and UCLA have met just once but the one meeting between the teams was a memorable one for the Razorbacks. The 4-3 win over the Bruins on Feb. 18, 2011, is the only win against a No. 1 ranked opponent in program history.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

Rutgers is 5-5 this season and coming off a 4-1 weekend at the East Texas A&M Lion Invitational, where they defeated East Texas A&M twice (7-0, 4-2), Abilene Christian (2-1) and split with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (W 9-3, L 4-1).
Cal State Fullerton is 7-3 under first-year head coach Gina Oaks Garcia and coming off a 4-2 weekend at the Beardown Fiesta, falling to Arizona twice (10-1 5 inn., 5-1) while defeating Ohio twice (2-1, 17-1) and South Alabama (3-1).
Loyola Marymount is 3-7 in the young season, with wins over Southern (12-2), Utah (12-3) and UC Santa Barbara. The Lions are scheduled to host No. 14 Duke today at 1 p.m. be-fore opening play at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with Arkansas on Friday.
Baylor carries a 6-4 record into the event and is coming off a 3-2 record with three wins over Hofstra (7-0, 8-7, 11-3) and two losses to No. 3 Oklahoma (9-1, 8-0).
4 UCLA is 9-1 this season and coming off a 4-1 showing in the Clearwater Invitational, where they defeated Oklahoma State (6-4), Charlotte (10-0, 5 inn.), Kentucky (3-1) and Alabama (6-3) before dropping the finale against Virginia (7-6).

PUTTING UP HISTORIC NUMBERS

Senior first baseman Bri Ellis is off to one of the most impressive starts at the plate in modern NCAA Softball history.
Through the first 10 games of the season the Houston, Texas product has driven in 24 runs in 24 at-bats. Ellis is the only player nationally to have equal or more RBI than at-bats through the first 10 games of the season since at least 2015 (min of 20 AB).
Her .583 batting average, seven home runs and 24 RBI are a program record through the first 10 games of a season (Min. 15 AB). The previous program best for HR and RBI through the first 10 games of a season was Linnie Malkin, who hit six homers and drove in 21 runs in 2021.
She had a career weekend during the Razorbacks 5-0 showing at the LA Tech Classic. The senior first baseman batted .667 with eight hits, three doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, seven runs scored and five walks while posting a 1.917 slugging percentage and .722 on-base percentage.
As a result of her efforts, she was named D1 Softball National Player of the Week and SEC Player of the Week.
Ellis is the NCAA Active Career Leader in home runs with 55.

HAVING FUN WITH MULTIPLE HOME RUNS

Arkansas is 56-7 all-time when a Razorback player hits multiple home runs in a single game, including a 41-2 mark in the Courtney Deifel era.
The Razorbacks are on a 32-game win streak when having a player hit multiple home runs in a single game, dating back to Feb. 20, 2021, when Linnie Malkin started the streak by belting a solo home run and a two-run shot in a 6-4 14-inning win at McNeese. Malkin’s two-run homer in the top of the 14th ended up accounting for the winning runs in the victory.
Additionally, Arkansas is 142-21 under head coach Courtney Deifel (.868) when hitting 2+ home runs as a team in a game. Since 2020, the Hogs have been 99-12 (.891) when hitting two or more round-trippers.

RAKING AT THE PLATE

Offensively, Arkansas ranks among the nation’s leaders in numerous categories, including Doubles (1st, 27), RBI per game (5th, 8.6), Runs per game (5th, 9.4) and Sacrifice Flies (1st, 8)
Arkansas owns a .438 on-base percentage. Six of the Razorbacks’ nine starters own an. OBP of .500+ while eight of nine starters own an on-base percentage of .400+.
In hitting coach DJ Gasso’s first season in Fayetteville, Arkansas struck out a program-low (COVID season not included) 192 times in 1,408 at-bats during the regular season, bettering the previous program record of 204, which was set in 2014 by 12.

ROB CAN SPIN IT

Robyn Herron owns a 3-0 record, 0.74 ERA and a team-best 27 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched in 2025/
On Feb. 17, Herron threw the 12th no-hitter in program history in a 10-0 (5 inn.) win over ULM. She struck out a season-high 11 batters during her no-hit performance against ULM to improve to 3-0 on the season. The southpaw struck out the side to open and end the game. Only three ULM batters reached base during the contest, two by way of walks in the second and fourth inning, in addition to a dropped third strike with two outs in the fourth.
Herron appeared in 29 games while making 19 starts and posting a 12-9 record with a team-best 143 strikeouts in 125.1 innings pitched. Her 1.62 ERA ranked 25th nationally and third among SEC pitchers. She also ranked 40th nationally with five shutouts during the 2024 season, posting three 10+ strikeout games.
She is one of just seven returning pitchers nationally who ranked in the Top 25 in ERA and Top 40 in shutouts during the 2024 season, joining Nijaree Canady (Texas Tech), Maddia Groff (Omaha), Karlyn Pickens (Tennessee), Kasey Ricard (Boston), Alivia Wilken (North Alabama) and Isabella Smith (Oklahoma).
Herron became the second pitcher in program history to throw a seven-inning perfect game while striking out a season-high 11 batters on just 86 pitches in a 7-0 win over Illinois State on Feb. 24, 2024, joining Mary Haff as the other Razorback to accomplish the feat.
She joins Mary Haff (3) as the only Razorback pitcher to toss multiple no-hitters.
Her nine 10+ strikeout games are the third-most in program history, trailing only Katy Henry (2005-08, 14) and Mary Haff (2018-22, 16).
Herron ranked in the Top 10 in the Arkansas single-season program record books in 2024 in multiple categories, including opponent batting average against (.171, 2nd), shutouts (6, T-10th), and strikeouts/7 IP (7.99, 5th).

HITTIN’ HOGS

Arkansas has posted a 185-20 overall record when registering 10 or more hits in a single game since 2006, including a 111-11 mark under Courtney Deifel.
The Razorbacks are 5-0 this season and posted 9-1 record in 2024 when registering 10+ hits and have won 64 of their past 68 contests when accomplishing the feat since 2020.

MISS VERSATILITY

Arkansas continued its multi-year run of major portal additions in the summer of 2024 with the addition of Texas Tech Transfer Kailey Wyckoff.
Wyckoff is currently batting .419 this season with 13 hits, five doubles, one home run and seven RBI while posting a .500 OPB. She owns a 13-game reached base streak dating back to her time at Texas Tech.
Down to her final strike of the game, Wyckoff kept Arkansas alive in a 2-1 walk-off win over San Diego by singling up the middle on the ninth pitch of her at-bat to drive in Raigan Kramer from second before Arkansas won the game two batters later courtesy of a Bri Ellis SAC fly (Feb. 8).
In her Arkansas debut at Texas State, Wyckoff blasted a solo home run to right field in the top of the sixth inning. (Feb. 6)
During her two seasons at Texas Tech, Wyckoff appeared all over the field for the Red Raid-ers, with nine or more starts at five different positions. She appeared in 51 games at catcher, 24 in right field, 12 in left field, 10 at designated player, and nine at first base.
Entering 2025, her career batting average of .400 ranks fourth among all players with multiple seasons of collegiate playing experience at the Power 4 level and 15th nationally among all Division I players.

BOGLE BOMBERS

The long ball has been a staple in the success of Arkansas Softball during the Courtney Deifel era (2016-present).
Arkansas has hit 548 home runs since Deifel took over the helm in 2016 which accounts for 50.2% of home runs in program history. In the 10 years prior to Deifel’s arrival, Arkansas teams belted 437 round-trippers.
The Razorbacks’ 536 home runs since 2017 rank second among SEC members during that time span and third among current SEC members, trailing only Oklahoma (871) and Georgia (589).
Six of the Hogs’ single-season top-10 home run marks have been accomplished during Deifel’s tenure, including the three best in program history (2022: 109, 2021: 95, 2023: 69).
The Razorbacks’ program-record 109 home runs in 2022 were the second-most by a team in a single season in SEC history.
Arkansas is just eight home runs away from its 1,100th in program history.

IN GOOD COMPANY

Freshman Pitcher Payton Burnham has wasted no time frustrating opposing hitters, beginning her Arkansas career with a 3-0 record and 17 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched.
She is just the third Razorback freshman to start her career 3-0 in the circle, joining Robyn Herron, who accomplished the feat in five appearances in 2023 and Autumn Storms, who earned a win in the first four appearances of her career in 2017.
She became the first freshman pitcher to record a win in her first two pitching appearances since Mary Haff in 2018 with wins over Bradley and San Diego at the Texas State Tournament (Feb. 7-8).
Burnham struck out eight batters while allowing just one run on three hits and one walk during her 6.1 innings pitched in a 3-1 win over Bradley (Feb. 7). A day later, she spun two perfect innings of relief against San Diego while striking out two batters in a 2-1 win.
She became just the 11th freshman Arkansas pitcher to post 8+ strikeouts in a game after fanning eight batters against Bradley (Feb. 7).

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.