STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton Softball is headed back to the national postseason for the second straight season after being chosen to compete in the 2023 National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) Sunday night.
Tarleton was one of eight teams selected to compete for an NISC championship in Fort Collins, Colorado. The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday, May 18-21 and will be played across two fields at Triple Crown Sports – Red Rocks Field and Horsetooth Field. Since making its debut in 2017, the NISC has grown into the largest college postseason tournament outside of the NCAA Championships,
The tournament format features two four-team pods that will play a double-elimination slate, with winners of the two winner’s brackets and loser’s brackets advancing to a single-elimination championship bracket. There will be live stats and live video for every game of the tournament.
The semifinals are set for 9 a.m. MT / 10 a.m. CT and 12 p.m. MT / 1 p.m. CT on May 20, with the championship game scheduled for 3 p.m. MT / 4 p.m. CT – all those games are on Red Rocks Field. Maryland (36-17) earned the top seed in the tournament while the other teams competed are as follows (in alphabetical order):
• BYU (32-16)
• CSUN (28-22)
• Iowa (31-27)
• San José State (26-28)
• South Dakota State (37-17)
• Tarleton State (30-27)
• UC Davis (29-20)
“We’re excited for the opportunity to represent Tarleton State University on the softball field one more time this spring,” said Mark Cumpian. “The NISC is a great event and it provides great postseason experience for our team, especially our younger players. We look forward to a great week of action in Colorado.”
Here’s the schedule for the first two rounds:
Thursday, May 18 (all times Mountain):
• Maryland vs. CSUN, 10 a.m. (Red Rocks Field)
• Iowa vs. UC Davis, 10 a.m. (Horsetooth Field)
• San José State vs. BYU, 1 p.m. (RR)
• Tarleton State vs. South Dakota State, 1 p.m. (HT)
Friday, May 19
• Loser’s bracket, both fields, 9 a.m.
• Winner’s bracket, both fields, noon
• Loser’s bracket, both fields, 3 p.m.
The 2017 NISC was won by Liberty; the 2018 crown went to Loyola Marymount, and the 2019 title went to UT Arlington. The event was suspended for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Baylor winning the 2022 championship.
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