Top-Seeded 'Cats Head to Big Ten Tournament

Thursday, May 11

Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

4:30 pm CT

Northwestern

Iowa

Top-Seeded 'Cats Head to Big Ten Tournament

5/10/2023 2:31:00 PM | Softball

Tournament Central

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Thursday, May 11	Iowa	4:30 pm CT	Eichelberger Field Champaign, Illinois	Big Ten Network	Live Stats
Friday, May 12	Big Ten Semifinals	7:30 pm CT	Eichelberger Field Champaign, Illinois	Big Ten Network	Live Stats
Saturday, May 13	Big Ten Finals	3 pm CT	Eichelberger Field Champaign, Illinois	Big Ten Network	Live Stats
Social: Twitter: @NUSBcats \| Instagram: @NUSBcats

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After claiming a Big Ten regular season championship for the second-straight season, Northwestern sets its sights on the postseason. Wildcats head to Champaign, Illinois for the Big Ten Tournament.

Coverage will be live on Big Ten Network all weekend, with Northwestern's first game coming on Thursday, May 11 at 4:30 pm CT against Iowa.

The Wildcats currently hold a No. 8 ranking in this week's latest NCAA RPI rankings. The Wildcats are looking to earn a Top-8 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 (No. 2 national seed) and are looking to win their first Big Ten Tournament Championship since 2008.

In their last time out, the Wildcats came away with a series victory at Rutgers, taking two of three games. It was Northwestern's eighth series victory of the season (7-0 in three game series, 1-0 in a home & home series vs. Illinois), marking the first time the Wildcats went undefeated in Big Ten regular season series since 2008, when they went 8-0-2 throughout 10 different two-game series.

Danielle Williams earned a win in both of Northwestern's victories at Rutgers, limiting hitters to a .166 batting average over the weekend including a complete game shutout in Sunday's 2-0 win, the 30th shutout of her career and her 100th career win in the circle. Williams becomes just the seventh Big Ten pitcher ever to reach the milestone. On Wednesday, she continued to make history becoming just the fifth pitcher ever to be named a four-time First-Team All-Big Ten recipient, as well as joining Lisa Ishikawa (1984-87) and Garland Cooper (2004-07) as the only Northwestern players ever to achieve the feat.

Williams was one of seven Wildcats to earn All-Big Ten selections this week, being joined by Nikki Cuchran as a First Team recipient in addition to Hannah Cady, Jordyn Rudd, Skyler Shellmyer earning Second Team honors, while Kelsey Nader and Kansas Robinson were named to the All-Freshman Team. Rudd also earned All-Defensive Team honors for a third-consecutive season. Also headling the awards was Kate Drohan being named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for a second-straight season and a fifth time in her career, the second-most in Big Ten history behind only Carol Hutchins.

Rudd enters this weekend with 195 career RBI, tied with Rachel Lewis (2018-22) for third in program history and three behind Adrienne Monka (2009-12) for second in program history. She is looking to join Garland Cooper (207 career RBI) as the only other Wildcat ever to reach 200 career RBI, and is also one double away from tying Tammy Williams for second place in program history.

Shellmyer led all Wildcats with a .338 batting average and 48 hits this year, marking her third-consecutive season leading the team in hits. Currently sitting at 218 career hits entering the weekend, she is one hit away from tying her former teammate Rachel Lewis for seventh in NU history.

In its only other trip to Eichelberger Field this season, Northwestern earned a 12-0 win over Illinois in five innings which saw the 'Cats set a program record with six home runs in the game, each of which was hit by a different player.

Northwestern is 28-19 all- time in the Big Ten Tournament, the 2nd-best winning percentage among any team in the tournament's history. NU has taken home the conference tournament title twice (1982, 2008). The Wildcats are 6-2 in tournament games as the No. 1 seed, including when they won the tournament in 2008.