No. 11 Northwestern saw its season come full circle this weekend, as the Wildcats’ campaign ended where it began more than three months earlier.
On Feb. 15, NU (40-16) defeated then-No. 3 Texas A&M in Tempe, Ariz., home of No. 2 Arizona State (61-5), who hosted the Cats in the Super Regional round. This weekend, NU returned to Tempe and was swept in the best-of-three series by the Sun Devils, ending its bid to advance to a third consecutive Women’s College World Series.
The Cats brought the cool Chicago weather with them for the opening game of the series. Their bats proved to be even colder, as the team managed just two hits in a 3-1 loss.
NU scored in the top of the third inning when freshman Robin Thompson was hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on the errant throw from the catcher and scored on a Darcy Sengewald single to give her squad a 1-0 lead.
The Sun Devils answered right back in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a two-run home run by Pac-10 Player of the Year Kaitlin Cochran. They tacked on a third run in the following inning and let senior ace Katie Burkhart go to work to preserve the victory.
Burkhart allowed just the one unearned run on two hits, did not walk any batters, and struck out 16.
“(Burkhart) did a nice job of hitting some spots, and even when she fell behind she was able to come back with some strikes,” coach Kate Drohan said. “I thought she threw a good game. She is the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year for a reason.”
Facing elimination on Saturday, NU saw more of the same from the Arizona State hurler. In the second and final game of the series, Burkhart threw a complete game shutout while scattering three hits and fanning 10 more NU batters.
The Cats were determined not to get beat by Cochran again. Sun Devils coach Clint Myers moved the star centerfielder to the leadoff spot in the lineup, and still Delaney walked her in all four of her plate appearances. Cochran scored three of the four times she was put on base, as Arizona State run-ruled NU 9-0 in six innings.
“Offensively, they are really clicking,” Drohan said. “They took advantage of everything we gave them today. They did a nice job putting pressure on us, and when Burkhart gets the lead, she feels comfortable out there.”
Sophomore ace Lauren Delaney, who has carried the Cats all year, had a rough weekend. She showed some control problems, issuing 15 walks over the course of the two games, although six of them were delivered to Cochran to avoid pitching to the dangerous junior.
“They weren’t going to let (Cochran) beat them,” Myers said. “If they wanted to walk her to start the game, we will take the walk to start the game. We had it scripted with what we wanted to do all the way down the line.”
NU sophomore centerfielder Kelly Dyer entered the weekend 4-for-5 with two home runs in her career against Burkhart. Though she was put down in all three of her plate appearances in Friday’s game, she continued her hot hitting against one of the nation’s top pitchers with two singles in two at-bats on Saturday.
The loss marked the final game of Sengewald’s career. NU’s lone senior had the team’s only RBI of the weekend in the first game.
The designated player was disappointed with the loss but said she was pleased with the 2008 campaign.
“I thought we had a great season,” she said. “All 16 of us did a great job. It was definitely an honor to be on that team.”
