2019 National Invitational Softball Championship

2019 National Invitational Softball Championship

Season	2019
Teams	19
Format	Double Elimination
Finals site	TC Colorado Field, Fort Collins, Colorado
Champions	UT Arlington (1st title)
Runner-up	Iowa State (1st title game)
Winning coach	(1st title)
MVP	Aileen Garcia (UT Arlington)
← National Invitational Softball Championship →

The 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) began on May 16, 2019 and concluded on May 26.^[1]

Tournament play and team selection[]

The NISC tournament is designed to feature forty-eight teams in eight six-team regional tournaments with the regional champions advancing to a National Finals tournament. The regionals and the Finals are double-elimination competitions.^[2]

For the inaugural tournament, only fifteen of the thirty-two NCAA conferences sent an automatic qualifier (AQ). Seven schools having non-losing records and RPIs in the top 100 entered the tournament with "National RPI" bids. Four other teams with non-losing records against challenging schedules were added as "At-large" teams. The twenty-six teams were placed in six regional tournaments of four or five teams. The six regional champions advanced to the National Finals at Liberty University, a site that was determined after the regional competitions. ^[3]

Participants[]

Conference	School	Best Finish	Reference
Sun Belt	Appalachian State	1st Appearance	[4]
OVC	Eastern Kentucky	Championship Round ()
Mountain West	Fresno State	1st Appearance	[4]
A-10	George Washington	1st Appearance	[4]
Big 12	Iowa State	1st Appearance	[4]
MAC	Kent State	1st Appearance	[4]
ASUN	Liberty	Champions (2017)
WCC	Loyola Marymount	Champions ()
Conference USA	Marshall	1st Appearance	[4]
Southland	McNeese State	1st Appearance	[4]
Conference USA	Middle Tennessee	1st Appearance	[4]
Mountain West	Nevada	Regionals (2017, )
Big Ten	Purdue	1st Appearance	[4]
Big Ten	Rutgers	1st Appearance	[4]
Summit League	South Dakota	1st Appearance	[4]
Summit League	South Dakota State	Regionals ()
Southland	Stephen F. Austin	Regionals ()
Big West	UC Riverside	Championship Round ()
Sun Belt	UT Arlington	Championship Round ()

Regionals[]

Sources:^[5]

Nevada Regional[]

	First Round					Regional Semi-Finals					Regional Finals
		Fresno State	18
		UC Riverside	10
							Fresno State	3
							Nevada	8
		Nevada	4
		Loyola Marymount	3
												Nevada	2	6
											Loyola Marymount	4	11
		UC Riverside	0
		Loyola Marymount	10
							Fresno State	5
							Loyola Marymount	8

Stephan F. Austin Regional[]

	First Round					Regional Semi-Finals					Regional Finals
		Stephen F. Austin	0
		UT Arlington	7
							UT Arlington	5
							McNeese State	3
		Middle Tennessee	3
		McNeese State	7
												UT Arlington	1	4
											McNeese State	6	3
		Stephen F. Austin	4
		Middle Tennessee	0
							McNeese State	3
							Stephen F. Austin	1

Iowa State Regional[]

	First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
		South Dakota	3
		Purdue	4				Iowa State	6
							Purdue	1
												Iowa State	7
												South Dakota State	2
							South Dakota State	8														Iowa State	5	X
							Eastern Kentucky	6														Purdue	3	X
																	South Dakota State	1
												Eastern Kentucky	1				Purdue	4
							South Dakota	2				Purdue	3
							Eastern Kentucky	7

Liberty Regional[]

	First Round					Second Round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
							Liberty	1
		Appalachian State	1				Rutgers	0
		Rutgers	2									Liberty	4
												Kent State	0
							George Washington	2
		George Washington	4				Kent State	7
		Marshall	1														Liberty	7	X
																	Marshall	0	X
		Appalachian State	1
		George Washington	2									Kent State	2
							George Washington	1				Marshall	4
							Marshall	3
		Marshall	4
		Rutgers	0

Regional Standings[]

Source= ^[6]

The six regional tournaments were played May 16–18, 2019.

The regional and finals competitions were double-elimination tournaments.

NISC	Region († = host)
Place	1 Reno, NV	2 Nacogdoches, TX	3 Ames, IA	4 Lynchburg, VA
1st	Loyola Marymount Lions	Texas–Arlington Mavericks	Iowa State Cyclones †	Liberty Lady Flames †
2nd	Nevada Wolf Pack †	McNeese State Cowgirls	Purdue Boilermakers	Marshall Thundering Herd
3rdt	Fresno State Bulldogs	Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks †	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	Kent State Golden Flashes
4th	UC Riverside Highlanders	Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	George Washington Colonials
5th			South Dakota Coyotes	Rutgers Scarlet Knights
6th				Appalachian State Mountaineers

Championship Bracket[]

Participants[]

School	Conference	Record (Conference)	Head Coach	Championship Round Appearances† (including 2019)	Championship Round Best Finish†*	Championship Round W-L Record† (excluding 2019)
Iowa State	Big 12 Conference	35-23 (7-11)	Jamie Pinkerton	1 (last: 2019)		0-0
Liberty	Atlantic Sun Conference	40-20 (16-5)	Dot Richardson	2nd (last: 2017)	1st (2017)	5-1
Loyola Marymount	West Coast Conference	39-19 (11-4)		2nd (last: )	1st ()	5-1
UT Arlington	Sun Belt Conference	33-27 (17-10)		2nd (last: )	4th ()	0-2

Bracket[]

The third annual National Invitational Softball Championship finals were played May 24–26, 2018 at TC Colorado Field in Fort Collins, Colorado. Teams were seeded by their RPIs.

	First Round					Semi-Finals					Championship
		Iowa State	5
		Loyola Marymount	6
							Loyola Marymount	3
							UT Arlington	6
		Liberty	8
		UT Arlington	9
												UT Arlington	4	X
											Iowa State	3	X
		Iowa State	7
		Liberty	2
							Loyola Marymount	2
							Iowa State	5

Championship Game[]

School	Top Batter	Stats.
UTA Mavericks	Aileen Garcia (1B)	2-4 2RBIs
Iowa State Cyclones	Taylor Nearad (CF)	1-2 RBI

School	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	AB	BF
UTA Mavericks	Randi Phillips	4.1	3	3	2	3	1	15	19
UTA Mavericks	Allie Gardiner (W)	2.2	1	0	0	0	2	8	9
Iowa State Cyclones	Savannah Sanders	3.1	4	2	1	2	0	14	18
Iowa State Cyclones	Emma Hylen (L)	2.2	4	2	0	2	1	11	13

References[]