On a wild day in Lynchburg, Virginia, the host school Liberty Flames battled through three games to reach the final contest of the 2017 NISC against Lamar. After adverse weather moved over the Liberty Softball Stadium, continuing the contest was no longer an option for tournament officials. By rule, the last completed inning became the final score, resulting in Liberty capturing the title, 3-1, in five innings.

Junior Tori Zavodny became the hero in the championship’s first contest against the Cardinals. With two runners on, trailing Lamar 5-4 and down to final three outs, Zavodny rocketed a home run over the right field fence to jump on top, 7-5. The Flames would add an insurance run and hold on to force the “if” game in the double-elim format, winning 8-5.

Pitching was the early story in the second game between the Cardinals and Flames. Through the first two and one half innings, each team’s offense was relatively silent. Then came the Bishop sisters. Amber and Autumn each dialed up a single before Alexia Taylor drove the first run of the ballgame. Two more runs in the inning gave Liberty the 3-0 advantage.

Brynn Baca kickstarted Lamar in the fifth inning and would eventually score via an RBI single from Kenzie Meeuwsen.  Laura Napoli and Anissa Rodriguez each pitched well for the Cardinals, combining for three strikeouts and only two walks.

Julia Dimartino moved to 22-10 on the year, striking out four and scattering three hits in the championship win.

2017 NISC All-Tournament Team

Cal Poly
Sierra Hyland
Crimson Kaiser
Chelsea Convissar
 
Weber State
Kirtlyn Bohling
Takesha Saltern
KyRae Kogianes
 
Illinois State
Allison Spence
Sarah Finck
Riley Strandgard
 
Kennesaw State
Alley Cutting
Courtney Sutter
Noelle Winkles
 
Lamar
Ciara Luna
Ashley McDowell
Brynn Baca
 
Liberty
Kenzie Friesen
Amber Bishop
Tori Zavodny - Tournament MVP

Trailing 3-0 after the first two frames, Liberty went on a torrid run through the middle of the NISC semi-final game, scoring 13 unanswered runs to topple Kennesaw State, 13-5.

Courtney Sutter and Chandler Griffin each went yard against the host school. The Owl’s offensive duo combined for four hits, the two home runs and four of the five RBI. Kennesaw State ends a historic season, tallying a program record 40 wins.

Only on Liberty player did not record a hit on Wednesday morning. Tori Zavodny was downright unstoppable for the Flames. Zavodny lit up the Owls pitching staff for four hits, including a double and four RBI. Amber Bishop, Alexia Taylor and Jasmeen Click each had at least two RBI. Click dialed up the game-ending hit in the sixth to put keep the Flames’ season alive.

Kennesaw State’s season comes to an end Wednesday. Meanwhile, host Liberty moves on to the finals where they will face Lamar, who has yet to lose in the championship round. Liberty will need to best the Cardinals twice in order to claim the 2017 title. Game one is slated for 1:30 p.m. ET.

Liberty kept pace through the loser’s bracket of the NISC on Monday night, as pitchers Kenzie Friesen and Julia DiMartino combined to throw a three-hit shutout against Cal Poly, 3-0.
 
The Flames got two home runs off the bat of freshman Amber Bishop, with Deidra See driving in the other run. The game was a 1-0 nailbiter until the top of the seventh. Tori Zavodny also had two hits.
 
Sierra Hyland, who pitched a perfect game earlier Monday versus Weber State, allowed six hits and five walks.
 
Liberty will play the loser of Tuesday’s Kennesaw State-Lamar game.
 

​Sierra Hyland returned to her dominating ways in the NISC, throwing a perfect game no-hitter for Cal Poly in a 9-0 run-rule victory Monday against Weber State to advance in the loser’s bracket.
 
Hyland struck out 10 batters and moved to 24-12 on the season. Cal Poly will play Liberty later Monday, with the loser heading home.
 
Offensively, the Mustangs put the game away with a four-run burst in the top of the sixth inning. Hyland also had three hits and drove in three runs; Crimson Kaiser added two hits and Hailey Martin drove in two runs. Leadoff hitter Stephanie Heyward scored three runs.
 
Weber State also made four errors, ending its season at 37-22-1 overall.

LYNCHBURG, VA – With their season on the line, Liberty leaned on their stud in the circle. Kenzie Friesen spun a one-hit performance on Monday afternoon to keep the Flames’ season brewing, leading them to victory, 3-0, over Illinois State.

Ali Domkusku and Sarah Finck pitched a wonderful game in their own right for the Redbirds. The duo combined for four strikeouts and forced 13 groundout, but three runs on eight hits proved to be the difference in the end. Allison Spence dialed up the only hit for Illinois State with a single in the fourth inning.

Alexia Taylor came up with a monstrous game when her team needed it the most. The third baseman led the Flames with three hits, one double and an RBI. Amber Bishop and Deidra See each had two hits as well in the win.

In the circle, Kenzie Friesen was virtually unstoppable. Friesen struck out three, force 10 flyouts and eight groundouts to pick up her 14 win of 2017 against just three losses.
​
Emerging victorious in their elimination game, Liberty will fight on to face the winner of Cal Poly and Weber State. The Flames’ next game is slated for Monday night at 9 p.m. ET.

LYNCHBURG, VA – Outhit 10-4 on Monday afternoon, a stellar Kennesaw State defense led the Owls over Weber State, 4-0, giving Kennesaw State a ticket to the NISC semi-finals.

Getting runners on base wasn’t a problem for Weber State. The Wildcats combined for 10 hits, two each from Takesha Slatern, KyRae Kogianes and Sydney White. However, 13 runners left on base ultimately led to the demise of Weber State.

Kennesaw State’s pitching duo of Alley Cutting and Abigail Green went for the tandem shutout of the Wildcats, twice working out of bases loaded jams to end the fourth and the sixth innings to keep the Owls on the winner’s side of the bracket.

Kira Czyrklis tallied two of the Owls’ four hits while four different KSU players combined for each of the four RBI.

Weber State will drop down into the loser’s bracket of the double-elim format to face Cal Poly later Monday night at 6:30 p.m. ET. Kennesaw State earns the right to advance to the semi-finals where they will take on Lamar on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

LYNCHBURG, VA – Behind starting pitcher Ciara Luna, the Cardinals needed only two runs in the third inning to prevail over the Illinois State Redbirds, 2-1.

Illinois State struck first in the opening frame after three hits, including an RBI single pushed a run across for the first run of the championship round for the Redbirds. Sarah Finck, who would pitch all seven innings in the circle for ISU, gave up only four hits and two runs for a valiant effort. Allison Spence and Riley Strandgard turned in the best performances at the plate, combining for three hits and the Redbird’s only RBI.

A lead-off walk to start the third inning was just the spark the Cardinals needed to put themselves back in contention. Two straight singles carried both Ashley McDowell and Shelby Hughtson across home plate, giving Lamar the 2-1 advantage.

Now pitching with a lead, Ciara Luna wasn’t about to let the semi-finals out of her sight. Luna struck out five, walked one and gave up just one run in her seven innings of work, picking up her 18th win of the year and advancing Lamar to the coveted semi-final round.

Lamar will await the winner of Kennesaw State and Weber State who will go toe-to-toe at 1:30 p.m. ET Monday. Meanwhile, Illinois State will drop down to the loser’s bracket of the double-elim format and face host Liberty later Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET. 

Weber State pitcher Kirtlyn Bohling threw six standout innings and worked out of trouble in the seventh on Sunday, holding off host Liberty, 3-2, to advance in the Championship Round of the NISC.
 
Bohling and the Wildcats got a double play in the bottom of the sixth to douse one threat, and in the seventh Liberty put two runners on right away – both scored unearned runs after an error on a hit from the Flames’ Deidra See. With one runner on, Rylee Reynolds and Autumn Bishop both walked, but Bohling got Amber Bishop to fly out to end the game.
 
Rae Gall hit a two-run homer for Weber State in the fourth inning, and Takesha Saltern also drove in a run. For Liberty, pitcher Chase Cassady struck out five batters in four innings.
 
Weber State will play Kennesaw State in the next round on Monday; Liberty plays Monday in the loser’s bracket.