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 Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

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 A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimina ...

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.

Brackets

''Source:'' The six regional tournaments were played May 16–18, 2017. The regional and finals competitions were

double-elimination tournament A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimina ...

s. The inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship finals were played May 21–24, 2017 at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

. Teams were seeded by their RPIs. * # = Game called after 5 innings for inclement weather.

Championship Game

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 Holly Jean Bruder (born 1977) is an American college softball coach. She most recently served as head coach at Lamar from 2013 to 2018. From 2008 to 2011, she served as head coach at NCAA Division I Morehead State. Prior to the seasons at Morehe ...

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. 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 The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

were irate. "Nobody foresaw this situation would happen," King said. "You can blame me for this."

2017 NISC All-Tournament Team

''Source =''

References

External links

NISC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017 National Invitational Softball Championship

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

National Invitational Softball Championship 2017 in sports in Virginia 2017 in women's softball 2017 in American women's sports Women's sports in Virginia