NU Joins Softball Celebration at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

2/21/2018 9:17:00 AM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	AUDIO	VIDEO	LIVE STATS
Friday, Feb. 23	San Diego State	5:30 p.m. CT/ 3:30 p.m PT	Big League Dreams: Pawtucket	Studio N ($)	FloSoftball ($)	Live Stats
Friday, Feb. 23	Long Beach State	10:30 p.m. CT/ 8:30 p.m. PT	Big League Dreams: Pawtucket	Studio N ($)	FloSoftball ($)	Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 24	#11 Tennessee	4:30 p.m. CT/ 2:30 p.m./PT	Big League Dreams: Fenway	Studio N ($)	FloSoftball ($)	Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 25	St. John's	11 a.m. CT/ 9 a.m. PT	Big League Dreams: Pawtucket	Studio N ($)	FloSoftball ($)	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Official Tournament Website

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The nation's most prestigious and anticipated non-conference tournament is here, and Northwestern is among 34 teams decending on Big League Dreams in Cathedral City, Calif., for week two of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic this February 23-25.

This season marks Northwestern's 13th appearance in the tournament, which annually attracts college softball's best and brightest. In addition to 32 college programs, the USSSA Pride of National Pro Fastpitch and the Japanese National Team will be on hand for a series of exhibition games.

Games begin on Thursday, February 22, but Northwestern opens its schedule at 5:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. PT Friday, February 23 with a re-match against San Diego State. The two teams first met this year on Opening Night at the Kajikawa Classic, with Northwestern scoring twice in extra innings to take a 7-6 (8) victory. The Wildcats plated five runs in the first inning in that game before the Aztecs stormed back to force extras, where the Wildcats held on.

Later Friday night the Wildcats will take on the red-hot 49ers from Long Beach State, which enter the tournament with a 9-1 record on the season. Saturday features a single game versus 11th-ranked Tennessee before an early-morning getaway day game against St. John's on Sunday.

FloSoftball will video stream every game while Doug Meffley will provide live Studio N audio for all games on NUsports.com. More information is available below and links to broadcasts are available in the chart at the top of this page.

Northwestern's offense has been cooking early in the 2018 season, ranking atop the Big Ten with 50 runs scored in its opening nine games. NU has found success in old school tactics: Get on base, get over and get home. The Wildcats also lead the conference in walks, on-base percentage and stolen bases.

Speaking of steals, NU is sixth in the country with 3.0 steals per game, led by first-year Rachel Lewis who is 14th individually with 0.89 steals per game (eight total). Lewis, Sabrina Rabin, Morgan Nelson and Marissa Panko all rank among the top-10 base stealers in the Big Ten after two weekends of play.

In the circle, first-year Kenna Wilkey has stepped right into a major role with wicked stuff. Her 27 total strikeouts give her a double-digit strikeouts per seven innings ratio of 10.1, good for 26th in the country after two weekends of action.

The Wildcats pitching staff as a whole has continued to share the load well for the second-straight year. Four different Wildcats already have victories this season and the team's ERA is sub-3 at 2.82 despite facing strong offensive lineups already.

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL HOME TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
Full season passes, single game tickets and group tickets to all of Northwestern's 2018 home games are available NOW at NUsports.com. NU welcomes Big Ten foes Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Iowa to The J this year while also hosting nonconference games against Green Bay and Loyola (Chicago). Don't miss the FUN! Get yours today!

PROGRAMMING NOTE

Below is a *tentative* coverage schedule that should help in planning how you follow the 'Cats for each upcoming weekend. All streams are free unless otherwise noted; subscription information for pay-per-view streams will be disseminated the week before those events. Also, EVERY GAME will have live stats and live tweets at NUsports.com and @NUSBCats on Twitter.

A full home stream and television schedule will be finalized and available in the coming weeks.

MARY NUTTER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC (February 23-25): FloSoftball is back to stream video coverage of every tournament game at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. In addition, all four games at the Mary Nutter will be audio streamed live via Studio N on NUsports.com with SID Doug Meffley on the call.

Studio N is a subscription product. Cost is $3.95 for a 24-hour pass, $6.95 for a monthly pass (BEST VALUE!). If you purchased a monthly pass for the Kajikawa Classic, your subscription will still be active for the Mary Nutter. If you are new to Studio N, we recommend the monthly pass for the Mary Nutter Classic because it will give you access to all four games AND both games during the Doubleheader at Indiana March 17 for one $6.95 purchase.

More information and links to subscribe to FloSoftball are available at FloSoftball.com.

HUSKY INVITATIONAL (March 2-4): The Wildcats travel to Seattle for the Husky Invitational hosted by the University of Washington March 2-4. The hosts will video stream all games at the tournament. Links and more information will be available closer to the event.

HOUSTON HILTON PLAZA CLASSIC (March 9-11): NU's tournament schedule concludes March 9-11 at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic. The Cougars will live stream all games involving the host Houston. More streaming plans with NU's other opponents are being finalized and will be available closer to first pitch.

DOUBLEHEADER AT INDIANA (March 17): NU's final non-conference action comes in the form of two games in Bloomington, Ind., on March 17 where the Wildcats will face UIC and Indiana in a non-Big Ten contest. Both of those games will be audio streamed live via Studio N audio at NUsports.com with Doug Meffley on the call.

BIG TEN SCHEDULE: Big Ten Network is still in the process of finalizing its television and streaming schedule for the 2018 Big Ten season. That full schedule will be announced soon!

PLAY BALL!
For a complete season preview and notes on this weekend's Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, download our Game Notes available here and in the chart at the top of this page.