The Justice

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of SportsPix Second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 runs towards first base after hitting the ball in a win over Smith College April 21. The Judges had won 23 games in a row before last Thursday's loss to Framingham State College.

After tying a school record for longest winning streak and a team record for most wins in a season last Wednesday, the softball team achieved another unique feat last Sunday, scoring 10 runs in the fifth inning of the second game of a doubleheader in an 11-0 shutout over Bowdoin College.

Brandeis climbed to 33-8-1 with the win after defeating Bowdoin 8-4 in the first game. The Judges have won four consecutive games since a 5-2 loss to Framingham State College in the second game of a doubleheader last Wednesday that broke a 23-game winning streak.

The streak put Brandeis in the discussion for an at-large bid to its first NCAA Tournament in school history. The University Athletic Association, Brandeis' conference, is not eligible for an automatic bid, meaning Brandeis can only make the field as one of the five teams from Pool B. Brandeis has the fifth-best winning percentage among B teams, behind Union College, Moravian College, Aurora University and Salisbury University, but was not among the top eight New England teams in the latest edition of the NCAA's Regional Rankings.

"We won't know until we either get a call or don't get a call," coach Jessica Johnson said. "We're still hopeful, but the loss to Framingham definitely hurts us. But we hope that with the next four games that we can come out on top, that will kind of tip the balance, but we'll see."

The Judges led 1-0 in the second game against Bowdoin before blowing the game open in the fifth inning. Seven different Judges got hits, including shortstop Chelsea Korp '10, who tripled to score pitcher Natalie Volpe '08 and first baseman Courtney Kelley '11 and give Brandeis a 5-0 lead. Korp and third baseman Danielle Lavallee '11 each had two hits in the inning.

"It was just hit after hit after hit," Korp said. "Hitting can be very contagious. Once you see one or two people get on the pitcher, everyone's like, 'If they can hit her, I can hit her.'"

Continued...

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