NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: ACC/B1G Challenge
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	STREAM	LIVE STATS
Friday, Feb. 16	Louisville	10 a.m. CT/ 11 a.m. ET	Dail Stadium	NO STREAM	Live Stats
Friday, Feb. 16	Louisville	12:30 p.m. CT/ 1:30 p.m. ET	Dail Stadium	NO STREAM	Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 17	N.C. State	2 p.m. CT/ 3 p.m. ET	Dail Stadium	ACC Extra	Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 18	N.C. State	11:30 a.m. CT/ 12:30 p.m. ET	Dail Stadium	ACC Extra	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Official Tournament Website

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern travels to Raleigh, N.C., this weekend for the 2018 edition of the ACC/B1G Challenge. NU joins conference partner Ohio State to take on Louisville and site host N.C. State in four games across three days.

Due to a poor weather forecast, the original schedule for this weekend has been changed: Northwestern now will play Louisville in a Friday doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET before taking on N.C. State at a new time of 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET Saturday. The tournament finale against the Wolfpack remains at the original time of 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

By virtue of its 4-1 record following the season-opening Kajikawa Classic, Northwestern is off to its best start to a season since going 4-0 at the 2008 version of the Kajikawa. NU's lone loss so far this year came at the hands of No. 7 Arizona, and it took a sixth-inning rally for the Pac-12 Wildcats to break a 1-1 deadlock in that game.

Unlike last week's Kajikawa Classic and next week's Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, which are more than a decade-long mainstays on the Northwestern schedule, the ACC/B1G Challenge is in just its third season. The tournament pairs 10 teams from each conference together at five ACC host sites. NU split four games against North Carolina and Boston College in 2016 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, before being swept in four contests against then-No. 3 Florida State and then-No. 24 Pittsburgh in Tallahassee, Florida, last year.

Northwestern met N.C. State for the first time last season, run-ruling the Wolfpack 11-2 (5) at the Mary Nutter. The Wildcats have a 3-2 series lead over the Cardinals, last meeting in 2015 when Northwestern captured an 11-0 victory.

Fresh faces old and new have been the story of the early part of the 2018 season for the Wildcats. For the first time since 2012, three different first-year Wildcats recorded regular starts in the lineup during the first tournament of the year. Rachel Lewis at second base batted .400 with six runs, five RBIs and five stolen bases. Kenna Wilkey in the circle went 1-0 with 15 strikeouts in 10.2 innings while batting .333 at the plate and clubbing a three-run home run in her first-collegiate at-bat. Mac Dunlap at third base single-handedly saved NU's win over San Diego State, forcing extra-innings with a tremendous defensive stop on a ground ball in the seventh with the winning run on third.

Meanwhile, junior Lily Novak stepped into her first regular starting role at first base and led the Wildcats at the plate all weekend, batting at team-best .500 with a .588 on-base percentage and a team-high seven RBIs.

Northwestern's offense as a team was tremendous, averaging 7.40 runs per game to rank 25th in the country entering the season's second week. Speed on the basepaths has been a huge part of that production; the Wildcats 18 total steals and 3.20 steals per game rank seventh in the nation.

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.

ACC/B1G CHALLENGE (February 16-18): Due to staffing issues, N.C. State this week announced it will be streaming only N.C. State games at the Raleigh, N.C., site of the ACC/B1G Challenge. Those games will be available via ACC Network Extra, and links can be found on the Tournament Central page. There will be no live stream of NU's two games against Louisville, although fans can still follow live Twitter updates and live stats at NUsports.com.

MARY NUTTER COLLEGIATE CLASSIC (February 23-25): FloSoftball is back to stream video coverage of every tournament game at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic February 23-25. More information and links to subscribe 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.

Studio N is a subscription product. Cost is $3.95 for a 24-hour pass, which will get you both games at the IU event.

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 ACC/B1G Challenge, download our Game Notes available here and in the chart at the top of this page.

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SCHEDULE CHANGE: Wildcats Take Hot Start to ACC/B1G Challenge

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mac Dunlap

Rachel Lewis

Lily Novak

Kenna Wilkey

Northwestern University Athletics

SCHEDULE CHANGE: Wildcats Take Hot Start to ACC/B1G Challenge

••••••

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mac Dunlap

Rachel Lewis

Lily Novak

Kenna Wilkey

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