With a runner on second base and a tied score in the seventh inning of the softball team's game against University Athletic Association champion Washington University in St. Louis last Saturday, first baseman Courtney Kelley '11 had a chance to give the Judges the upset victory.She did so emphatically, hitting the team's second walk-off home run of the week to give the Judges a 3-1 win, snapping the Bears' 14-game winning streak and handing them their only UAA loss. The Judges ended in a tie for third place in the UAA at 3-5, one game better than their finish last season, and are now 5-5 this season.

"I'm happy to go out on the high note [of beating WashU], but all week, we were one execution away from possibly winning all eight games in the UAA," coach Jessica Johnson said.

The Judges fell behind 1-0 in the first inning after an error by second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 led to a Bears run, but pitcher Natalie Volpe '08 kept the game close, allowing just four more base runners the rest of the game. Volpe then tied the game in the fourth inning with a double to drive in Streilein, who had led off the inning with a single.

The game remained tied until the seventh inning, when Volpe reached base on sophomore second baseman Megan Fieser's throwing error. She advanced to second on catcher Erin Ross' '10 ground ball, setting up Kelley's game-winner.

"They came in second place in Division III last year, so it's such a huge accomplishment for us [to beat them]," third baseman Danielle Lavallee '11 said. "It shows that we can really play at their level, if not better."

The Judges also got a walk-off home run from first baseman Allie Mussen '10 in the first game of the week against Case Western Reserve University last Tuesday. Case Western tied the game at one in the top of the sixth inning, but Mussen's blast in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Brandeis a 3-1 win and preserved a three-hit complete game pitching effort from Streilein.

The rest of the week was a struggle, as the Judges lost four of their other five UAA contests. Two of those losses came in blowouts to Emory University, as the Eagles won 11-0 last Tuesday and 8-1 last Friday, while the other two were closer defeats to WashU 6-5 last Wednesday and the University of Rochester 5-1 last Saturday.

"We were on both sides of the close games, which is a good experience to have," Johnson said. "The blowouts were both against Emory, . and we were the only team to not beat them, so clearly they are beatable. We just beat ourselves."

Pitcher Emily Vaillette '10, who led the Judges in wins and ERA last season, struggled to a 0-2 record and a 14.32 ERA during the week. She gave up 11 runs in three innings in the 11-1 loss to Emory, and surrendered the game-winning run in the loss to WashU.

One year after finishing last in fielding, hitting and pitching in the UAA, the Judges improved to third out of five teams in batting average and fielding percentage, though they did again finish last in team earned-run average.

Brandeis players also occupied two of the top five individual batting-average spots.

Designated hitter Kaitlin Streilein '08 was fourth with a .409 average and Lavallee finished fifth with a .389 average.

Lavallee also tied for second in the UAA with a .500 on-base percentage.

"Every at-bat, I tried really hard to get a hit, so I'm happy with those statistics," Lavallee said.

The Judges next play a double header at home against Wellesley College Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.