Last season, the softball team made the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament for the first time in school history. This season, they achieved another milestone with a 23-game winning streak. The streak, which tied a school record set by the 1979 baseball team for the longest winning streak for any Brandeis team, started with a 9-1 win over Worcester Polytechnic Institute April 2 and ended last Wednesday in a 5-2 loss at Framingham State College in the second game of a doubleheader.

"Overall, it was any given kid at any given moment," coach Jessica Johnson said. "The pitching was good all week, and basically, to succeed, it was getting that key hit at a key time."

The Judges currently have a school-record 33 wins with two more games to play and still have an outside chance at qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

Success on the mound was instrumental during the streak, as the Judges' pitchers combined for eight shutouts over the 23-game stretch.

Kate Streilein '08 led the way, posting a 12-0 record over the three weeks, while Natalie Volpe '08 added five wins of her own to increase her record to 8-1 by the end of the streak.

"They both were dominating," Johnson said. "[As of April 25] their ERAs were both below 2.00, so they're holding teams to two or fewer runs, and . [our hitters] should be able to score two [runs] at least for them. I think that's a key part of [our streak]."

Strong hitting has supplemented the pitching, as the Judges have outscored their opponents 175-41 over the streak. In 13 of those games, Brandeis scored at least nine runs.

Catcher Erin Ross '10, who was hitting .387 before the streak, increased her average to .476 over the stretch, and Streilein, who hit .457 prior to April 2, had a .472 average prior to last Wednesday's loss.

"To me, it almost seems like [Ross] is hitting at will," Johnson said. "She's been swinging a very good bat, regardless of what kind of pitches she's facing, and she's also been patient too. She hasn't put a lot of swings on bad pitches, and she's hitting with authority."

Ross and Streilein were not the only ones with hot bats, as eight Judges are batting over .300.

Samantha Worth '09, who had suffered an injury earlier in the season, had the game-winning single in her first official at-bat in a 1-0 win over Suffolk University April 9, and has a .344 batting average as of last Sunday.

"You'd never know [just] from looking at [Worth] that she was injured," Johnson said. "[She's] come in, she's put the ball in play, she's worked some key walks, and she hasn't really struck out much, which is huge for us.