| Custom Title: | 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Sport: | Softball |
| Season: | 2019 NCAA Division I softball season |
| Teams: | 19 |
| Format: | Double Elimination |
| Finals Site: | TC Colorado Field, Fort Collins, Colorado |
| Champions: | UT Arlington |
| Title Count: | 1st |
| Runner Up: | Iowa State |
| Game Count: | 1st |
| Coach: | Peejay Brun |
| Coach Count: | 1st |
| Mvp Label: | MVP |
| Mvp: | Aileen Garcia |
| Mvp Team: | UT Arlington |
| Prev: | 2018 |
| Tournament Link: | National Invitational Softball Championship |
| Next: | 2020 |
The 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) began on May 16, 2019 and concluded on May 26.[1]
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]
| Conference | School | Best finish | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Appearance | [4] | |||
| Championship Round (2018) | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| Champions (2017) | ||||
| Champions (2018) | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| Regionals (2017, 2018) | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| 1st Appearance | ||||
| Regionals (2018) | ||||
| Regionals (2018) | ||||
| Championship Round (2018) | ||||
| Championship Round (2018) |
Sources:[5]
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 † | ||||
| 3rdt | Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks † | ||||
| 4th | |||||
| 5th | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | ||||
| 6th | Appalachian State Mountaineers | ||||
| School | Conference | Record (Conference) | Head Coach | Championship Round Appearances† (including 2019) | Championship Round Best finish†* | Championship Round W-L Record† (excluding 2019) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35-23 (7-11) | 1 (last: 2019) | 0-0 | |||||
| 40-20 (16-5) | 2nd (last: 2017) | 1st (2017) | 5-1 | ||||
| 39-19 (11-4) | 2nd (last: 2018) | 1st (2018) | 5-1 | ||||
| 33-27 (17-10) | 2nd (last: 2018) | 4th (2018) | 0-2 |
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.
| School | Top Batter | Stats. |
|---|---|---|
| UTA Mavericks | Aileen Garcia (1B) | 2-4 2RBIs |
| Iowa State Cyclones | Taylor Nearad (CF) | |
| 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 |