PISCATAWAY, N.J. (May 12, 2019) - The Rutgers softball season will continue at the National Invitational Softball Championships. The Scarlet Knights have accepted a bid into the postseason tournament, and will head to the Liberty regional in Lynchburg, Virginia beginning on Thursday, May 16 against Appalachian State.
Rutgers (28-24) earns the Big Ten's automatic qualifier to the NISC with the highest regular season standing of the teams not invited to the NCAA Tournament, marking the program's first postseason tournament appearance since RU's last NCAA Tournament bid in 1994. Rutgers is one of 19 teams in the NISC and will enter the regional with Appalachian State, George Washington, Marshall, Kent State and hosting Liberty.
This year marks the third running of the NISC, and the first Rutgers will appear in the tournament. In the debut season of 2017, the championship was won by Liberty, and last year's title went to Loyola Marymount. The 2019 NISC will launch at four regional sites at Liberty, Nevada, Stephen F. Austin and Iowa State. All regionals are double elimination, with the four regional winners advancing to the NISC championship round – that double-elim bracket will be held in Fort Collins on May 24-26.
2019 NISC Participants
Appalachian State (31-23, 13-13 Sun Belt)
Eastern Kentucky (34-20, 16-6 Ohio Valley)
Fresno State (36-18, 14-10 Mountain West)
George Washington (42-16, 15-7 Atlantic 10)
Iowa State (32-23, 7-11 Big 12)
Kent State (27-24, 11-5 MAC)
Liberty (37-20, 16-5 Atlantic Sun)
Loyola Marymount (35-18, 11-4 West Coast)
Marshall (29-20, 17-7 Conference USA)
McNeese State (30-30, 19-8 Southland)
Middle Tennessee (29-28, 11-13 Conference USA)
Nevada (27-25, 11-13 Mountain West)
Purdue (31-27, 11-13 Big Ten)
Rutgers (28-24, 11-12 Big Ten)
South Dakota (33-26, 12-6 Summit)
South Dakota State (36-17, 11-7 Summit)
Stephen F. Austin (25-21, 18-9 Southland)
UC Riverside (26-25, 8-13 Big West)
UT Arlington (30-26, 17-10 Sun Belt)
By Region
At Nevada (Reno, NV)
Fresno State, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, UC Riverside
At Stephen F. Austin (Nacogdoches, TX)
McNeese State, Middle Tennessee, Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington
At Iowa State (Ames, IA)
Eastern Kentucky, Iowa State, Purdue, South Dakota, South Dakota State
At Liberty (Lynchburg, VA)
Appalachian State, George Washington, Kent State, Liberty, Marshall, Rutgers
Follow all the action with scores, schedules, livestream details and recaps at www.womensnisc.com.
