No. 4 Seed NU Opens B1G Tourney Saturday (SCHEDULE CHANGE)

5/9/2018 4:50:00 PM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: Big Ten Tournament
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	COVERAGE	LIVE STATS
Saturday, May 12	Iowa	10:30 a.m.	Madison, Wis.	BTN	Live Stats
Saturday, May 12	Semifinal	3:30 p.m.	Madison, Wis.	BTN	Live Stats
TBD	Championship	TBD	Madison, Wis.	BTN	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| BRACKET

EVANSTON, Ill. -- It's Big Ten Tournament time in Big Ten Country! Mere days after finishing off the regular season in Madison, Wisconsin, Northwestern returns to the Badgers' Goodman Diamond as the No. 4 overall seed for the conference tournament.

By virtue of their top-four seed, the Wildcats have a bye past Thursday's opening round directly into the quarterfinal round.

DUE TO RAIN ON FRIDAY, Northwestern's opener against No. 12 seed Iowa has been pushed back to 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The winner will advance to the 3:30 p.m. semifinal contest.

Every game of the tournament will broadcast live on BTN and BTN2Go. Additionally, Northwestern student radio WNUR 89.3 FM will provide live streaming audio of all NU games at the tournament.

Northwestern boasts a 24-17 overall record in the Big Ten Tournament and has appeared in the championship game five times. The Wildcats won the inaugural tournament in 1982 when it was used to determine the league's overall champion.

Northwestern's tournament history is strongly interwoven with the tournament at large. After NU won the first edition, it went away until re-appearing in 1995 as a six-team, double-elimination event. In 2003, Northwestern played an 18-inning game, 12-inning game and eight-inning game en route to the championship round. The next year? The tournament became a single-elimination, eight-team affair. NU also won the 2008 staging before the event once again went on a four-year hiatus, returning for good with the addition of Nebraska to the league in 2013.

The 2018 Wildcats earned the No. 4 seed with a tough schedule, winning series against No. 2 seed Minnesota and No. 5 seed Ohio State. The Wildcats also split with No. 6 seed Illinois (and won a pair of non-conference games versus No. 3 seed Indiana, which did not count toward the league standings).

Northwestern brings the nation's 13th-ranked offense into the tournament, led by first-team All-Big Ten selections Rachel Lewis and Morgan Nelson. The pair has driven in a combined 105 runs for the Wildcats this season while Lewis (a unanimous selection) ranks among the top-15 in the nation in RBIs, home runs and runs scored.

Senior Sabrina Rabin became the 12th Wildcat in program history to be a four-time All-Big Ten selection when she picked up a second-team honor in 2018. She continues to climb the conference's record books, currently ranking third all-time with 128 stolen bases and sixth all-time with 201 runs scored.

First-year Kenna Wilkey made the All-Freshman team thanks in large part to her prowess in the circle, where she has compiled a 17-5 record: the most wins for an NU first-year student-athlete since Lauren Delaney went 19-2 in 2007.

Junior Lily Novak was named the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team's first baseman. She has made just one error this season in 319 chances to anchor the #B1GCats infield.

For more on Northwestern's All-Big Ten selections, read the full release here.

PLAY BALL!
For a complete preview and notes on this weekend's Big Ten Tournament, download our Game Notes available here and in the chart at the top of this page.