National Invitational Softball Championship

The National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) is a postseason women's college softball tournament sponsored by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and operated by Triple Crown Sports, Inc., a company that produces events for college and youth athletics. The tournament is for NCAA Division I teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. Announced in December 2016, there are to be thirty-two automatic qualifiers from the thirty-two NCAA-sanctioned conferences and sixteen at-large teams selected on the basis of their RPI ranking and/or their season's performance (i.e. won-lost record, record versus top-50 teams).[1]

National Invitational Softball Championship
Current season, competition or edition:
2019 National Invitational Softball Championship
SportCollege Softball
Founded2016
FounderNational Fastpitch Coaches Association
Inaugural season2017
No. of teams48 possible bids
CountryUSA
Most recent
champion(s)		UT Arlington (2019)
Most titlesLiberty, Loyola Marymount, & UT Arlington (1)
Related
competitions		NCAA Division I Softball Championship
Official websitehttp://www.womensnisc.com

History

In September 2016, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and Triple Crown Sports joined together to bring about the National Invitational Softball Championships, a 48-team postseason Division-I event designed to highlight the growth of women's softball and the depth of talent on college rosters from coast to coast.[2]

Although the tournament is designed to feature forty-eight teams in eight six-team regional tournaments, in the inaugural season of 2017, most teams had already allocated their resources for the season before the tournament was announced and opted out of consideration for invitations. As a result, that first tournament had only 26 teams in six regional competitions.

Tournament play and team selection

Source = [3]

The 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 regional and Finals competitions are double-elimination tournaments.

Thirty-two (32) automatic qualifier (AQ) spots in the NISC are offered to best teams available in each of the NCAA's 32 conferences after the NCAA Tournament committee makes its picks for the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. These AQs are the highest-finishing teams in their conference's regular-season standings that are not selected for the NCAA Tournament without regard for the team's overall record. If an AQ team declines the NISC invitation, then the conference forfeits its AQ spot, and that berth goes into the NISC at-large pool.

The at-large spots in the NISC will be filled by the top teams available. All teams from Division I shall be considered, although any team considered for an at-large berth must have an overall record of .500 or better or a top 50 final NET. Overall record shall include conference tournament games.

First-round regional pairings are determined by NET.

Teams from the same conference will not meet in the first round.

Site selection for all tournament games is the sole responsibility of the NISC.

Champions

source = [4]

National Invitational Softball Championship
Year Host City
(University)		 Host Stadium Final Semifinalists
Winner Scores Runner-up
2017 Lynchburg, VA
(Liberty University)		 Kamphuis Field at
Liberty Softball Stadium		 Liberty Lady Flames 8–5
3–1(5)#		 Lamar Cardinals Lamar Cardinals
& Kennesaw State Owls
2018 Los Angeles, CA
(Loyola Marymount University)		 Smith Field Loyola Marymount Lions 2–0
5–0		 UC Riverside Highlanders Eastern Kentucky Colonels & UT Arlington Mavericks
2019 Fort Collins, CO
 TC Colorado Field UT Arlington Mavericks 4-3 Iowa State Cyclones Liberty Lady Flames & Loyola Marymount Lions
2020 No tournament due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • # = Game 2 called after 5 innings for inclement weather.

References
  1. "Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship". d1softballnews.com/D1 Softball Holdings, LLC. January 5, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  2. "TRIPLE CROWN, NFCA PARTNER ON POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT". National Fastpitch Coaches Association. January 16, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  3. "Event Details". Triple Crown Sports. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  4. "History". Triple Crown Sports. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
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