It happened once “unintentionally” to the leadoff hitter of Saturday’s Super Regional game between Northwestern and Arizona State.

It happened again intentionally in the second inning.

It might have been strategy. It might have been fear. But either way, walking Arizona State’s Kaitlin Cochran in the first and second inning spelled doom for the Wildcats’ hopes of making their third straight trip to the Women’s College World Series.

Cochran, the Sun Devils’ center fielder, hit a Lauren Delaney rise ball out of Farrington Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., to give the No. 6-seeded team a 2-1 lead over the Cats they would not concede Friday night.

NU decided it wanted nothing to do with Cochran the rest of the weekend. And Arizona State took advantage of the extra base runner.

The Sun Devils scored four runs in the first two innings off of the Cats’ free passes to her Saturday, putting them in an early hole during the must-win game two of the series.

NU did not learn its lesson, or still had Cochran’s Friday night home run fresh in its mind. The Cats walked her again in the third inning to load the bases. And again in the sixth.

That was four trips to the plate and four free passes to first for the player second on the Sun Devils’ all-time list for home runs.

The Sun Devils made them pay, capping a 9-0 win with a sixth-inning grand slam that sent the Cats home to Evanston.

The walk strategy was an uncharacteristic move from coach Kate Drohan, who has built NU into a softball power in the last four years on being aggressive, bringing energy and playing hard.

No doubt the team played hard, but the other two did not happen, and the early walks were a sign NU was not itself.

The typically strong offense – third in the Big Ten in runs and second in batting average – was on its heels against Arizona State pitcher Katie Burkhart.

Burkhart had 16 strikeouts in the first game and added 10 more in the decisive second game. She kept the Cats constantly guessing – and guessing wrong.

The pitcher’s dominance killed any energy and confidence NU had. The bench’s boisterous cheering and support, which routinely carried from Sharon J. Drysdale Field to nearby Rocky Miller Park throughout the season, seemed oddly quiet.

It was shocking watching the Sun Devils easily dusting off the Cats and putting them back on the shelf on their way to the Women’s College World Series.

Needing two wins to advance Saturday, NU succumbed to the pressure.

Lauren Delaney missed her spots and seemed to be pitching around or away from players – not at them as she had all season. She certainly did not go after Cochran and did not look comfortable intentionally putting runners on early in the inning.

Delaney could not overpower the Sun Devils with her speed, like she had done all season. The dominant Big Ten Pitcher of the Year looked normal.

Instead of playing as a dominant program, the Cats played as if they were not expecting to make it this far. They did not look like a team expecting to make their third straight trip to the Women’s College World Series.

NU looked like it feared what Arizona State could do and adjusted the way it played to the superior team. The Cats were not the aggressors for the first time all postseason.

They forced their offense. The small ball that scored the team’s lone run in the series was non-existent, and the team had no chance of powering one of Burkhart’s pitches over the fence. The Cats could barely catch up to Burkhart’s array of pitches.

Give Arizona State plenty of credit for shutting down NU and punching its ticket to Oklahoma City.

But the Cats helped them do it by leaving their personality at home.

Assistant sports editor Philip Rossman-Reich is a Medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].