Purdue Softball Headed to the Postseason

I will take full responsibility for this. When I wrote about Purdue softball a few weeks ago they had a great chance to make the NCAA Tournament. After my post they won their next game by blowing out Notre Dame, then went 1-11 in the final 12. That concluded with a narrow 4-3 loss to No. 3 Minnesota on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals where we had the bases loaded as the game ended.

There will be no NCAA Tournament, but there is the equivalent of the NIT for softball, and after going 31-27 Purdue is in the postseason for the first time in ten years:

The 2019 National Invitational Softball Championships launches 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 held in Fort Collins, Colorado, May 24-26.

One of 19 teams participating in the NISC, Purdue heads to the Iowa State regional in Ames, Iowa beginning on Thursday, May 16 with Eastern Kentucky, South Dakota, South Dakota State and host Iowa State. The Boilermakers open the tournament against South Dakota, Thursday, May 16 at 11 a.m. ET. The contest will mark Purdue’s second meeting with the Coyotes this season. The teams last met at the Madeira Beach College Invitational in February, with South Dakota securing a 4-2 victory.

The 2019 season marks the third year of the NISC, and Purdue’s first appearance in the tournament. In the debut season of 2017, the championship was won by Liberty, and last year’s title went to Loyola Marymount.

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 RegionAt 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

As far as teams in this tournament, Purdue was scheduled to play St. Francis in February, but it was canceled due to weather. We also beat Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament last week.