Lamar's Lead Erased, Liberty Wins Title In Controversial End To NISC Final
Lamar's Lead Erased, Liberty Wins Title In Controversial End To NISC Final
Lamar University softball loses NISC championship because of controversial call.
Liberty's 3-1 win over Lamar in the inaugural NISC championship game ended in controversy on Wednesday night when tournament officials decided to call the game after a 19-minute rain delay in the top of the sixth inning in Lynchburg, VA, according to Deadspin. Per NCAA rules, the score was reverted back to the last completed inning, erasing a two-run lead by Lamar and setting the score back to 3-1 to give Liberty its first national title.
Prior to the rain delay, Lamar had taken a 5-3 lead after the Cardinals scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Beaumont Enterprise quoted Lamar head coach Holly Bruder, "I'm angry and disappointed. We needed one out to complete the inning. We played in the rain up to that point. We should have had the opportunity to finish the inning."
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, both teams had a little over an inning of play left before crowning the first NISC champion. The day before championship day, the tournament waited 4 1/2 hours because of rain with another gamed delayed an hour.
"Nobody foresaw this situation would happen," tournament director Dave King said. "You can blame me for this."
Bruder concluded, "If we lose, though, we want it to feel fair and just and we don't feel like that happened."
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/CoachCarterMSU/status/867528144479289344" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/DanielleGreene9/status/867539001183531009" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ErinLaCosseMain/status/867530795182952448" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/mlhermann/status/867528469667880960" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/Sppix/status/867555119990177793" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/rtbeckom/status/867538658169155585" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
Prior to the rain delay, Lamar had taken a 5-3 lead after the Cardinals scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Beaumont Enterprise quoted Lamar head coach Holly Bruder, "I'm angry and disappointed. We needed one out to complete the inning. We played in the rain up to that point. We should have had the opportunity to finish the inning."
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, both teams had a little over an inning of play left before crowning the first NISC champion. The day before championship day, the tournament waited 4 1/2 hours because of rain with another gamed delayed an hour.
"Nobody foresaw this situation would happen," tournament director Dave King said. "You can blame me for this."
Bruder concluded, "If we lose, though, we want it to feel fair and just and we don't feel like that happened."
How Fans Are Reacting To The NISC Championship Outcome
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/CoachCarterMSU/status/867528144479289344" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/DanielleGreene9/status/867539001183531009" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ErinLaCosseMain/status/867530795182952448" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/mlhermann/status/867528469667880960" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/Sppix/status/867555119990177793" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/rtbeckom/status/867538658169155585" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]