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.'"

Volpe held Bowdoin to just two hits and struck out eight batters to improve to 10-1 on the season.

"[Volpe] picked them apart, which was great, because they're definitely a good hitting team," Johnson said. "She brought her game today."

In the first game, Kate Streilein '08 started the scoring with a home run to left field in the first inning off of junior pitcher Karen Reni.

"[Streilein] laid into that ball; it probably went a good 230 [feet], I would say," Johnson said. "That was an absolute shot."

A two-run double in the second inning by second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 scored pinch runner Carly Schmand '11 and first baseman Courtney Kelley '11, and Streilein scored Cagar with an RBI single to give the Judges a 4-0 advantage.

Rookie third baseman Molly Nestor cut the Judges' lead in half with a two-run home run in the third inning, but Brandeis scored four more runs in the fourth inning to seal the game.

"That was the difference, I think," Johnson said. "The game could have gone either way at that point, but [Streilein] settled in nicely on the mound, and . the bats just never stopped."

With one out, Cagar hit a solo home run, and Lavallee tripled Streilein home two batters later. An error by senior second baseman Kate Chin scored Lavallee, and an error at first base eventually led to an RBI single by Korp that increased the lead to 8-2.

Bowdoin added two runs in the final inning on Nestor's two-run double, but Streilein caused sophomore shortstop Lauren Coven to ground out to end the threat and seal her 17th victory of the season against just three losses.

Earlier in the week, Brandeis swept doubleheaders against Regis , Smith and Salem State colleges before their 23-game winning streak ended with a split at Framingham State. The Judges took a 14-6 win in the first game before losing 5-2 in the second game when the Rams picked up four runs in the third inning, only one of which was earned. The Judges bounced back last Thursday, shutting out Fitchburg State College in both games of a doubleheader to start a new streak.

"To bounce back shows that we can't let it affect us because we'll be facing double-elimination in the playoffs, Korp said. "If we lose one, we can't let it affect how we play in the next game."

Brandeis will host Babson College today and Emerson College tomorrow at 3 p.m. in their final regular-season games. They will learn their NCAA Tournament fate next Sunday.