UT ARLINGTON 9, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 1 (5)
CONWAY, AR – Laura Curry hit a grand slam to fuel a six-run outburst in the third inning for UT Arlington, which added three more in the fourth to post a run-rule victory over Central Arkansas late Wednesday. The Mavericks will face Texas Tech on Thursday in the winner’s bracket, with Central Arkansas taking on Stephen F. Austin in an elimination game. Sophomore lefthander JoJo Valencia (12-15) allowed six hits and walked two for UT Arlington. Kjirstyn Murphy added two RBI, and Sandra Mendoza had two hits and two runs. Libby Morris and Kayla Crutchmer each had two hits for Central Arkansas. UT ARLINGTON 9, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 1 (5)
CONWAY, AR – Laura Curry hit a grand slam to fuel a six-run outburst in the third inning for UT Arlington, which added three more in the fourth to post a run-rule victory over Central Arkansas late Wednesday. The Mavericks will face Texas Tech on Thursday in the winner’s bracket, with Central Arkansas taking on Stephen F. Austin in an elimination game. Sophomore lefthander JoJo Valencia (12-15) allowed six hits and walked two for UT Arlington. Kjirstyn Murphy added two RBI, and Sandra Mendoza had two hits and two runs. Libby Morris and Kayla Crutchmer each had two hits for Central Arkansas. WEBER STATE 14, UTAH VALLEY 7 LAS VEGAS, NV – In a full-fledged shootout in the opening game of the 2018 NISC, Weber State smacked 15 hits and took advantage of five errors by Utah Valley to post a victory and advance to meet UNLV later on Wednesday. The teams combined for 15 runs in the first four innings, with Weber State coming back to take a 8-7 lead on a two-out, two-run single from Rae Gall. The Wildcats pushed the advantage to 10-7 after the fifth inning and then scored four more times in the bottom of the sixth, two runs coming on bases-loaded walks. Utah Valley got a leadoff home run from Linnah Rebolledo in the top of the third inning that tied the game at 1-all; that was just Rebolledo’s 22nd at-bat of the season. Basia Query punched a two-run single with two outs in the top of the fourth to push the Wolverines up, 7-3. For Weber State, Tatiana Su’esu’e threw three scoreless innings to close out the win. Ashlyn Visser had four hits and two RBI; Gall added three hits and three RBI, and Landi Hawker scored three runs. TEXAS TECH 1, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 0 CONWAY, AR – Erin Edmoundson got a quick first-inning lead and made it stand up as the Texas Tech freshman pitcher scattered four hits and struck out seven batters to guide the Raiders past Stephen F. Austin. Edmoundson (16-11) got the only run she required in the bottom of the first inning, as Karli Hamilton singled to drive in Michaela Cochran with two outs. Cochran reached on a single and then stole second and third; she’d only stolen six bases in 13 attempts on the season. The Raiders only had two hits overall, as Ladyjacks pitcher Makayla Sikes hung tough, walking five and striking out four batters. Texas Tech will face UT Arlington or Central Arkansas in the next round on Thursday. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 11, COLORADO STATE 1 GREELEY, CO – South Dakota State jumped ahead with five runs in the first inning, then padded the lead with three more in the fourth in what became a stress-free run-rule victory over Colorado State. The Jackrabbits will face Loyola Marymount in the next round. Madison Hope was tough in the circle for South Dakota State, allowing four hits without a walk. Brittney Morse had two hits and drove in three runs; Ali Herdliska added two hits and two RBI, and Abbey Murphy had three hits and scored three runs. CSU needed to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game and did get a two-out double from Tara Shadowen, followed by a triple from Sarah Muzik. But a groundout sealed the deal for the Jackrabbits. UC RIVERSIDE 10, NEVADA 0 (6) LAS VEGAS, NV – UC Riverside sophomore Emma Ramelot drove in a run in the first inning, bringing home Jenna Curtan, and she also came through with a two-run single in the fourth inning as the Highlanders patiently worked their way to a lead and eventually the victory against Nevada. UC Riverside will face UNLV or Weber State on Thursday. The Highlanders got a terrific pitching performance from freshman Hailey Dolcini, who was 14-9 entering the game with a 1.86 ERA. Against the Wolf Pack, Dolcini allowed two hits and a walk in five innings, also notching five strikeouts. Tayler Misfeldt came in to relieve in the sixth, and Nevada got runners to second and third with two outs, but Misfeldt got a strikeout to end the frame. UC Riverside’s Brittney Garcia added two hits and four RBI, and Chelsey Holley also drove in two runs. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 7, NORTHERN COLORADO 4 GREELEY, CO – Sabrina Tebou smacked a grand slam to left-center in the bottom of the sixth, capping a comeback for Loyola Marymount where the Lions scored seven runs in that sixth inning. The Lions will face South Dakota State tomorrow in the winner’s bracket, while the Bears play Colorado State in an elimination game. UNC had a shutout behind Valerie Vidal going into the sixth inning. Lauren Paige came through with a two-run single to push the Bears up 3-0 in the top of the third inning. The Lions made a pitching change to Linnay Wilson in the third inning, and she responded by hurling 4 2/3 solid innings with eight strikeouts. Wilson struck out two in the seventh inning to close the door. Delanie Wisz hit a sixth-inning double, driving in Molly Grumbo to cut the UNC lead to 4-1. Alicia Brown followed with a two-run single to left field; Tebou then hit a no-doubter to cap the rally. UNLV 4, WEBER STATE 1 LAS VEGAS, NV – Janine Petmecky never flinched in the circle, protecting a lead that UNLV slowly built and finishing with a five-hitter with six strikeouts as the Rebels slipped past Weber State. UNLV will now face UC Riverside on Thursday in the winner’s bracket, while the Wildcats will play an elimination game versus Utah Valley or Nevada, also on Thursday. The Rebels scored single runs in the first, third and fourth innings; a key insurance run came across in the bottom of the sixth inning when Petmecky singled and a run came across on an error. Petmecky hit leadoff Wednesday and reached twice; she was batting .331 entering the game and leads her team in hits. Molly Horne finally got the Wildcats on the board with a sixth-inning single that scored Sydney White; Weber State stranded two runners as Petmecky (20-7) escaped further trouble in the frame. UNLV 4, WEBER STATE 1
LAS VEGAS, NV – Janine Petmecky never flinched in the circle, protecting a lead that UNLV slowly built and finishing with a five-hitter with six strikeouts as the Rebels slipped past Weber State. UNLV will now face UC Riverside on Thursday in the winner’s bracket, while the Wildcats will play an elimination game versus Utah Valley or Nevada, also on Thursday. The Rebels scored single runs in the first, third and fourth innings; a key insurance run came across in the bottom of the sixth inning when Petmecky singled and a run came across on an error. Petmecky hit leadoff Wednesday and reached twice; she was batting .331 entering the game and leads her team in hits. Molly Horne finally got the Wildcats on the board with a sixth-inning single that scored Sydney White; Weber State stranded two runners as Petmecky (20-7) escaped further trouble in the frame. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 7, NORTHERN COLORADO 4
GREELEY, CO – Sabrina Tebou smacked a grand slam to left-center in the bottom of the sixth, capping a comeback for Loyola Marymount where the Lions scored seven runs in that sixth inning. The Lions will face South Dakota State tomorrow in the winner’s bracket, while the Bears play Colorado State in an elimination game. UNC had a shutout behind Valerie Vidal going into the sixth inning. Lauren Paige came through with a two-run single to push the Bears up 3-0 in the top of the third inning. The Lions made a pitching change to Linnay Wilson in the third inning, and she responded by hurling 4 2/3 solid innings with eight strikeouts. Wilson struck out two in the seventh inning to close the door. Delanie Wisz hit a sixth-inning double, driving in Molly Grumbo to cut the UNC lead to 4-1. Alicia Brown followed with a two-run single to left field; Tebou then hit a no-doubter to cap the rally. UC RIVERSIDE 10, NEVADA 0 (6)
LAS VEGAS, NV – UC Riverside sophomore Emma Ramelot drove in a run in the first inning, bringing home Jenna Curtan, and she also came through with a two-run single in the fourth inning as the Highlanders patiently worked their way to a lead and eventually the victory against Nevada. UC Riverside will face UNLV or Weber State on Thursday. The Highlanders got a terrific pitching performance from freshman Hailey Dolcini, who was 14-9 entering the game with a 1.86 ERA. Against the Wolf Pack, Dolcini allowed two hits and a walk in five innings, also notching five strikeouts. Tayler Misfeldt came in to relieve in the sixth, and Nevada got runners to second and third with two outs, but Misfeldt got a strikeout to end the frame. UC Riverside’s Brittney Garcia added two hits and four RBI, and Chelsey Holley also drove in two runs. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 11, COLORADO STATE 1 (5)
GREELEY, CO – South Dakota State jumped ahead with five runs in the first inning, then padded the lead with three more in the fourth in what became a stress-free run-rule victory over Colorado State. The Jackrabbits will face Loyola Marymount or Northern Colorado in the next round. Madison Hope was tough in the circle for South Dakota State, allowing four hits without a walk. Brittney Morse had two hits and drove in three runs; Ali Herdliska added two hits and two RBI, and Abbey Murphy had three hits and scored three runs. CSU needed to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game and did get a two-out double from Tara Shadowen, followed by a triple from Sarah Muzik. But a groundout sealed the deal for the Jackrabbits. TEXAS TECH 1, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 0
CONWAY, AR – Erin Edmoundson got a quick first-inning lead and made it stand up as the Texas Tech freshman pitcher scattered four hits and struck out seven batters to guide the Raiders past Stephen F. Austin. Edmoundson (16-11) got the only run she required in the bottom of the first inning, as Karli Hamilton singled to drive in Michaela Cochran with two outs. Cochran reached on a single and then stole second and third; she’d only stolen six bases in 13 attempts on the season. The Raiders only had two hits overall, as Ladyjacks pitcher Makayla Sikes hung tough, walking five and striking out four batters. Texas Tech will face UT Arlington or Central Arkansas in the next round on Thursday. WEBER STATE 14, UTAH VALLEY 7
LAS VEGAS, NV – In a full-fledged shootout in the opening game of the 2018 NISC, Weber State smacked 15 hits and took advantage of five errors by Utah Valley to post a victory and advance to meet UNLV later on Wednesday. The teams combined for 15 runs in the first four innings, with Weber State coming back to take a 8-7 lead on a two-out, two-run single from Rae Gall. The Wildcats pushed the advantage to 10-7 after the fifth inning and then scored four more times in the bottom of the sixth, two runs coming on bases-loaded walks. Utah Valley got a leadoff home run from Linnah Rebolledo in the top of the third inning that tied the game at 1-all; that was just Rebolledo’s 22nd at-bat of the season. Basia Query punched a two-run single with two outs in the top of the fourth to push the Wolverines up, 7-3. For Weber State, Tatiana Su’esu’e threw three scoreless innings to close out the win. Ashlyn Visser had four hits and two RBI; Gall added three hits and three RBI, and Landi Hawker scored three runs. Linda Witt will be closely watching the Northern Colorado softball team this week, as the Bears play a postseason game for the first time in nearly 40 years at the National Invitational Softball Championships.
She’ll see the proceedings, however, from three perspectives. Witt was a star player for the Bears in the late 1970’s when the program reached the Women’s College World Series like clockwork and held up just fine in taking on power conference programs like Minnesota, Texas A&M, Arizona and plenty of others. She got her hands dirty again years later, as head coach for the Bears, starting in 2001 and shortly after the program had been shuttered for 15 years. And the last look comes this week, with Witt relishing the sight of her Bears in the postseason and, as always, a longtime believer in what the sport does for the person and the group as a whole. UNC will host one of the four regionals of the 2018 NISC, welcoming Loyola Marymount, Colorado State and South Dakota State to town. Witt played from 1976-78 at Northern Colorado, coming to the program as a catcher but then moving to second base. On her playing days -- “Every game was a gift; we had short seasons, 25-30 games per season and did a lot of traveling in March and April because of the snow in Greeley. The World Series was the expected ending; Gloria Rodriguez was the head coach, and her expectations were phenomenally high, and all of us followed her example. We were surrounded by amazing professors who coached of that department.” On taking the head coaching position -- “Softball was strong in Colorado by then, and UNS reinstating the program was a natural extension of that wave of interest. At that time, they were 10th of 10 teams in the conference – we were fourth the next year, and then we started the transition to D-I. We were independent, and recruiting became more of a challenge because we didn’t have a conference or a postseason opportunity. It was a challenging time … we saw it through, and then UNC joined the Big Sky, which didn’t support softball at that time.” On seeing UNC in the postseason – “What Shana Easley has done for the program, and all the support from the administration … there’s a commitment to excellence that we’ve enjoyed, and they are continuing to strive for.” The selection committee for the National Invitational Softball Championships has announced the 17-team field for the 2018 NISC. This marks the second year of the tournament, which features eight teams that have won 30 games or more during the 2018 season and six teams that finished second or better during the regular season in their respective conferences. First-round regional action begins Wednesday, May 16 – regional hosts are Northern Colorado, UNLV, Eastern Kentucky and Central Arkansas. Each double-elimination regional concludes play on either Friday, May 18 or Saturday, May 19. The Championship round, also double-elimination, is slated to begin Wednesday, May 23 at a host site to be determined.
Here’s the list of qualifiers for the NISC:
Austin Peay (Ohio Valley) – At Large Central Arkansas (Southland) – At Large Colorado State (Mountain West) – At Large Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley) – Automatic Qualifier Loyola Marymount (West Coast Conference) – Automatic Qualifier Nevada (Mountain West) – At Large Northern Colorado (Big Sky) – At Large Stephen F. Austin (Southland) – Automatic Qualifier South Dakota State (Summit League) – Automatic Qualifier Texas Tech (Big 12) – Automatic Qualifier Toledo (Mid-America) – Automatic Qualifier Towson (Colonial Athletic) – Automatic Qualifier UC Riverside (Big West) – Automatic Qualifier UNLV (Mountain West) – At Large UT Arlington (Sun Belt) – Automatic Qualifier Utah Valley (WAC) – Automatic Qualifier Weber State (Big Sky) – Automatic Qualifier Each of the 12 automatic qualifiers are the teams who finished the best regular-season record in their respective conference and are not playing in the NCAA Tournament. The five at large selections were selected off their body of work. Teams are selected to regions based on travel considerations first and then seeded by NCAA RPI (as of May 13). “We’re thrilled to be offering this event for a second consecutive year,” said Tournament Director Dave King. “We’ve already seen programs receive a significant boost by playing in the NISC last year. With the depth of talent this year, we’re looking forward to seeing this year’s programs play meaningful postseason games and continue their momentum into next season.” Here are the matchups for the first round, the Northern Colorado, UNLV and Central Arkansas regions begin play on Wednesday, May 16, while the Eastern Kentucky region will start on Thursday, May 17 (all times Eastern). Home team listed second; based on RPI. Region 1: Greeley, CO (Northern Colorado Hosts) South Dakota State (32-16) at Colorado State (26-21), 5 p.m. ET Northern Colorado (28-26) at Loyola Marymount (28-23-1), 8 p.m. ET Region 2: Las Vegas, NV (UNLV Hosts) Utah Valley (21-29) at Weber State (27-24), 3 p.m. ET Nevada (25-25) at UC Riverside (33-22), 6 p.m. ET Weber State/Utah Valley at UNLV (31-18), 9 p.m. ET Region 3: Richmond, KY (Eastern Kentucky Hosts) Towson (40-17) at Austin Peay (39-17), 3 p.m. ET Toledo (34-21) at Eastern Kentucky (40-18), 6 p.m. ET Region 4: Conway, AR (Central Arkansas Hosts) Stephen F. Austin (31-22) at Texas Tech (29-26), 4 p.m. ET Central Arkansas (28-25) at UT Arlington (27-26), 7 p.m. ET About Triple Crown Sports Based in Fort Collins, CO., Triple Crown Sports has been producing college and youth events for more than 30 years. TCS runs both the preseason and postseason WNIT basketball events and produces the men’s and women’s Cancun Challenge tournaments in November. Triple Crown is also powering another “WNIT” concept event in D-I volleyball (NIVC), which debuted in 2017. TCS youth fastpitch tournaments (including the 900-team Sparkler/Fireworks event) draw the nation’s finest club programs, and hundreds of college coaches attend TCS events for recruiting purposes. |