VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota softball has drawn Purdue in the opening game of the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) Thursday at 10 a.m. on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. It is a rematch from a 4-2 USD win in Florida back on Feb. 23.
It marks the first time since 1981 that the Coyotes have reached the postseason. USD received the Summit League's automatic bid to the NISC by finishing second in the standings to NCAA qualifier North Dakota State.
The NISC, in its third season, has 19 teams in this year's competition competing in one of four regions. Each regional champion will advance to a final double-elimination event to take place May 24-26 at TC Colorado Field in Fort Collins, Colorado. Iowa State, Nevada, Stephen F. Austin and Liberty are serving as regional hosts.
The winner of South Dakota and Purdue will advance to face Iowa State at 4 p.m. Thursday. The loser will compete at 10 a.m. Friday against the loser of South Dakota State and Eastern Kentucky, the other two regional participants. The regional championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.
A complete bracket can be found here.
Cyclones.tv will provide a free stream of every game on YouTube, though commentary will only be provided for games in which Iowa State is competing.
The National Invitational Softball Championship is operated, supervised and directed by Triple Crown Sports, a sports company based in Fort Collins, in collaboration with the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
