Softball Season Continues at the National Invitational Softball Championship

NISC Website

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Marshall softball has accepted an invitation the 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship. The Herd will be playing in Lynchburg, Va., May 16-18. Game dates and times will be released later this week.

The Thundering Herd enters the tournament with a 39-20 record, the third most wins in program history. Marshall was predicted to finish eighth in the preseason Conference USA polls, entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed, and finished as the tournament runner-up.

"We are excited to get the opportunity to continue playing," Herd head coach Megan Smith said. "We have had an amazing season and have an incredible group of players who have worked so hard for this."

Nineteen teams will be playing in the third annual NISC. The tournament begins in four locations with games taking place at Nevada, Stephen F. Austin, Iowa State and Liberty. Marshall is one of six teams that will be playing Liberty (37-20). Along with the Flames and the Herd the other teams will be George Washington (42-16), Kent State (27-24), Appalachian State (31-23) and Rutgers (28-24). All regionals are double elimination.

The winners from the four regional sites will meet in Fort Collins, Colo., for the championship on May 24-26. The championship round is also double elimination.

Coach Smith in her first season at the helm with the Herd saw a 14-win improvement from 2018 and smashed the team home run record with 75. Seniors Abigail Tolbert and Hayden Ellis along with sophomore Aly Harrell and freshman Mya Stevenson were all honored as all-conference performers. Tolbert has 26 wins in 2019, fourth most in program history and Ellis was named the 2019 Warrior Award winner. Harrell has been among the nation's leaders in walks and leads the NCAA in combined free passes with 63 walks and 17 hit-by-pitches. Stevenson obliterated the team freshman record for home runs (formerly 11 by Harrell) by tying the program single-season homers record with 18.

Complete list of teams in the NISC field:
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 (39-20, 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)

For all of the latest information on the Marshall Softball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdSB, Facebook at Marshall University Softball and on www.herdzone.com.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

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Marshall University Athletics

Softball Season Continues at the National Invitational Softball Championship

Players Mentioned

Hayden Ellis

Aly Harrell

Mya Stevenson

Abigail Tolbert

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