# 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship

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

## 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.
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.

## Participants

| Conference | School | Best finish |
| Sun Belt | Appalachian State | 1st Appearance |
| OVC | Eastern Kentucky | Championship Round (2018) |
| Mountain West | Fresno State | 1st Appearance |
| A-10 | George Washington | 1st Appearance |
| Big 12 | Iowa State | 1st Appearance |
| MAC | Kent State | 1st Appearance |
| ASUN | Liberty | Champions (2017) |
| WCC | Loyola Marymount | Champions (2018) |
| Conference USA | Marshall | 1st Appearance |
| Southland | McNeese State | 1st Appearance |
| Conference USA | Middle Tennessee | 1st Appearance |
| Mountain West | Nevada | Regionals (2017, 2018) |
| Big Ten | Purdue | 1st Appearance |
| Big Ten | Rutgers | 1st Appearance |
| Summit League | South Dakota | 1st Appearance |
| Summit League | South Dakota State | Regionals (2018) |
| Southland | Stephen F. Austin | Regionals (2018) |
| Big West | UC Riverside | Championship Round (2018) |
| Sun Belt | UT Arlington | Championship Round (2018) |

## Regionals

Sources:

### Nevada Regional

| First round | First round | First round | Regional Semi-Finals | Regional Semi-Finals | Regional Semi-Finals | Regional finals | Regional finals |
| Fresno State | Fresno State | 18 | | | | | |
| UC Riverside | UC Riverside | 10 | | | | | |
| UC Riverside | UC Riverside | 10 | Fresno State | Fresno State | 3 | | |
| | | | Nevada | Nevada | 8 | | |
| Nevada | Nevada | 4 | Nevada | Nevada | 8 | | |
| Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 3 | | | | | |
| Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 3 | | | | Nevada | Nevada |
| | | | | | | Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount |
| | | | Fresno State | Fresno State | 5 | | |
| UC Riverside | UC Riverside | 0 | Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 8 | | |
| Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 10 | | | | | |

### Stephan F. Austin Regional

| First round | First round | First round | Regional Semi-Finals | Regional Semi-Finals | Regional Semi-Finals | Regional finals | Regional finals |
| Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 0 | | | | | |
| UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 7 | | | | | |
| UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 7 | UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 5 | | |
| | | | McNeese State | McNeese State | 3 | | |
| Middle Tennessee | Middle Tennessee | 3 | McNeese State | McNeese State | 3 | | |
| McNeese State | McNeese State | 7 | | | | | |
| McNeese State | McNeese State | 7 | | | | UT Arlington | UT Arlington |
| | | | | | | McNeese State | McNeese State |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | McNeese State | McNeese State |
| | | | McNeese State | McNeese State | 3 | | |
| Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 4 | Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 1 | | |
| Middle Tennessee | Middle Tennessee | 0 | | | | | |

### Iowa State Regional

| First round | First round | First round | Second Round | Second Round | Second Round | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | | Regional finals | Regional finals | Regional finals |
| | | | Iowa State | Iowa State | 6 | | | | | | | |
| South Dakota | South Dakota | 3 | Purdue | Purdue | 1 | | | | | | | |
| Purdue | Purdue | 4 | | | | Iowa State | Iowa State | 7 | | | | |
| | | | | | | South Dakota State | South Dakota State | 2 | | | | |
| | | | South Dakota State | South Dakota State | 8 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Eastern Kentucky | Eastern Kentucky | 6 | | | | |
| | | | Eastern Kentucky | Eastern Kentucky | 6 | | | Iowa State | Iowa State | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | Iowa State | | Purdue | Purdue | 3 |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | | Purdue | Purdue | 3 |
| | | | | | | South Dakota State | South Dakota State | 1 | | | | |
| | | | Eastern Kentucky | Eastern Kentucky | 1 | Purdue | Purdue | 4 | | | | |
| South Dakota | South Dakota | 2 | Purdue | Purdue | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Eastern Kentucky | Eastern Kentucky | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |

### Liberty Regional

| First round | First round | First round | Second Round | Second Round | Second Round | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional semifinals | Regional finals | Regional finals | Regional finals |
| | | | Liberty | Liberty | 1 | | | | | | |
| Appalachian State | Appalachian State | 1 | Rutgers | Rutgers | 0 | | | | | | |
| Rutgers | Rutgers | 2 | | | | Liberty | Liberty | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | Kent State | Kent State | 0 | | | |
| | | | George Washington | George Washington | 2 | | | | | | |
| George Washington | George Washington | 4 | Kent State | Kent State | 7 | | | | | | |
| Marshall | Marshall | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Marshall | Marshall | 1 | | | | | | | Liberty | Liberty | 7 |
| | | | | | | | | | Marshall | Marshall | 0 |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 2 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | | | |
| Appalachian State | Appalachian State | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| Appalachian State | Appalachian State | 1 | | | | Kent State | Kent State | 2 | | | |
| George Washington | George Washington | 2 | | | | Kent State | Kent State | 2 | | | |
| George Washington | George Washington | 2 | George Washington | George Washington | 1 | Marshall | Marshall | 4 | | | |
| | | | Marshall | Marshall | 3 | | | | | | |
| Marshall | Marshall | 4 | Marshall | Marshall | 3 | | | | | | |
| Rutgers | Rutgers | 0 | | | | | | | | | |

## Regional Standings

Source:
The six regional tournaments were played May 16–18, 2019.
The regional and finals competitions were double-elimination tournaments.
| NISC | Region († = host) | Region († = host) | Region († = host) | 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) | Sami Strinz-Ward | 2nd (last: 2018) | 1st (2018) | 5-1 |
| UT Arlington | Sun Belt Conference | 33-27 (17-10) | Peejay Brun | 2nd (last: 2018) | 4th (2018) | 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 | First round | First round | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Championship | Championship |
| Iowa State | Iowa State | 5 | | | | | |
| Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 6 | | | | | |
| Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 6 | Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 3 | | |
| | | | UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 6 | | |
| Liberty | Liberty | 8 | UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 6 | | |
| UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 9 | | | | | |
| UT Arlington | UT Arlington | 9 | | | | UT Arlington | UT Arlington |
| | | | | | | Iowa State | Iowa State |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | Iowa State | Iowa State |
| | | | Loyola Marymount | Loyola Marymount | 2 | | |
| Iowa State | Iowa State | 7 | Iowa State | Iowa State | 5 | | |
| Liberty | Liberty | 2 | | | | | |

### 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 |