2017 National Invitational Softball Championship

The 2017 National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) began on May 16, 2017 and concluded on May 24. The Liberty University Lady Flames defeated the Lamar University Lady Cardinals in a controversial rain-shortened two-game final on Liberty's home.field in Lynchburg, Virginia.

2017 National Invitational Softball Championship
Season2017
Teams26
FormatDouble Elimination
Finals siteKamphuis Field
at Liberty Softball Stadium, Lynchburg, VA
ChampionsLiberty (1st title)
Runner-upLamar (1st title game)
Winning coachDot Richardson (1st title)
MVPTori Zavodny, Liberty


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.[1]

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. [2]

Brackets

Source:[3]

The six regional tournaments were played May 16–18, 2017.

The regional and finals competitions were double-elimination tournaments.

NISCRegion († = host)
Place 1
Stockton, CA		 2
Ogden, UT		 3
Normal, IL		 4
Beaumont, TX		 5
Atlanta, GA		 6
Lynchburg, VA
1stCal Poly MustangsWeber State Wildcats †Illinois State Redbirds †Lamar Lady Cardinals †Kennesaw State OwlsLiberty Lady Flames †
2ndNevada Wolf PackBoise State BroncosMichigan State SpartansLouisiana–Monroe WarhawksGeorgia State Panthers †Ohio Bobcats
3rdtPacific Tigers †Utah State AggiesMurray State RacersAbilene Christian WildcatsWestern Kentucky Lady ToppersUNC Wilmington Seahawks
4thUC Santa Barbara GauchosSan Diego TorerosIUPUI JaguarsTexas–Arlington MavericksAlabama State Lady HornetsIona Gaels
5th————UT Martin SkyhawksCampbell Lady Camels

The inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship finals were played May 21–24, 2017 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Teams were seeded by their RPIs.

  First Round     Second Round     Semifinals     Finals
                                       
      1 Kennesaw State 4  
  5 Weber State 3     5 Weber State 0    
  4 Liberty 2         1 Kennesaw State 4  
      6 Lamar 5    
    6 Lamar 2          
  3 Cal Poly 6     2 Illinois State 1        
  6 Lamar 8         6 Lamar 5 1
      4 Liberty 8 3(5)#
         
  2 Illinois State 0        
  4 Liberty 3         1 Kennesaw Stare 5    
      4 Liberty 3     4 Liberty 13  
      3 Cal Poly 0  
  5 Weber State 0    
  3 Cal Poly 9(6)  
  • # = Game called after 5 innings for inclement weather.

Championship Game
School Top Batter Stats.
Liberty Flames Deidra See (DP) 1-3 2RBIs 2B
Lamar Cardinals Kelly Meeuwsen (2B) 1-3 RBI
School Pitcher IPHRERBBSOABBF
Liberty Flames Julie DiMartino (W) 5.0311442024
Lamar Cardinals Laura Napoli (L) 3.1533211518
Lamar Cardinals Anissa Rodriguez 1.20000255

Finals controversy

The tournament had been plagued all week by intermittent heavy rains, In the first Liberty–Lamar Finals game, Lamar had a 5–4 lead after six innings, but Liberty scored four seventh inning runs on their home field to win 8–5. Lamar coach Holly Bruder did not want to start the decisive game because of the threatening weather, but tournament director Dave King opted to have the game played, since it was the last day that had been scheduled for the tournament. In the second Finals game, Lamar scored four runs in the top half of the sixth inning to take a 5–3 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, the rains resumed, soaking the field and making it unplayable. Under NCAA rules, in such a situation, the score reverts to the end of the last completed inning. Lamar's four runs were negated, and Liberty was declared the winner of the deciding game, 3–1, giving the Flames the inaugural NISC tournament.[4] The decision to call the game was made only nineteen minutes after the rains hit, despite the fact that a games on the previous day had been delayed for an hour in one case and four and a half hours in another. As soon as the decision was announced, softball fans around the country and officials of Lamar's Southland Conference were irate. "Nobody foresaw this situation would happen," King said. "You can blame me for this."[5][6]

2017 NISC All-Tournament Team

Source = [7]

Cal Poly
  • Sierra Hyland
  • Crimson Kaiser
  • Chelsea Convissar

Illinois State

  • Allison Spence
  • Sarah Finck
  • Riley Strandgard

Kennesaw State

  • Alley Cutting
  • Courtney Sutter
  • Noelle Winkles

Lamar

  • Ciara Luna
  • Ashley McDowell
  • Brynn Baca

Liberty

  • Kenzie Friesen
  • Amber Bishop
  • Tori Zavodny - Tournament MVP

Weber State

  • Kirtlyn Bohling
  • Takesha Saltern
  • KyRae Kogianes
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References
  1. "Event Details". National Invitational Softball Championship/Triple Crown Sports. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. "2017 Postseason NISC Tournament Bracket Announced". flosoftball.com. May 15, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  3. "Regional & Championship Brackets". National Invitational Softball Championship/Triple Crown Sports. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. Walls, Dave. "Liberty Softball claims NISC title in rain-shortened finale, 3-1". WSET. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
  5. "Tournament director takes blame for Lamar softball's NISC title game loss". Beaumont Enterprise/Hearst Newspapers. May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  6. "Controversial Rainout Decision Erases Softball Team's Lead, Costs Them Championship". deadspin.com. May 25, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  7. "LIBERTY CLAIMS INAUGURAL NISC CHAMPIONSHIP". National Fastpitch Coaches Association. May 25, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.

See also
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