Normally, closing a week of six games with a walk-off victory in extra innings to sweep a doubleheader and extend a winning streak to five games would be the softball team's highlight of the week. But last Thursday against Framingham State College, pitcher Emily Vaillette '10 made history on the mound, tossing the Judges' first no-hitter since 2006 to lead the team to a 6-0 victory in the second game of a doubleheader. The no-hitter was the third of five straight wins for the Judges, who closed the week going 5-1 to improve their record to 13-9 on the season. They opened the week by splitting a doubleheader at Worcester Polytechnic Institute last Wednesday but then swept consecutive doubleheaders against Framingham State last Thursday and Bowdoin College last Sunday.

Vaillette's no-hitter was the school's first in a full seven-inning game and third overall since 2003. The team's last no-hitter came in the season opener of the 2006 season, when Kaitlin Streilein '08 no-hit Wheelock College in five innings. Briane Smith '06 threw the team's previous no-hitter against Newbury College in 2003.

Last Thursday, Vaillette said she tried not to think about the greater accomplishment of pitching a no-hitter while she was on the mound.

"I just kept pitching one pitch at a time, not thinking about the endpoint but just where I was at that moment," she said. "[I was] just focusing on that batter."

Vaillette faced 22 batters and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before walking a batter, allowing the Rams to reach base for the first and only time in the game. Vaillette said her continuous work on her endurance and mental game helped her get through the entire game with the no-hitter.

"[The key] probably [was] just stamina and keeping [my] focus throughout the whole game, because it's hard to keep concentrating when you have something like [a no-hitter] going," she said.

Offensively, catcher Erin Ross '10 led the way by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

In the second game of a doubleheader against Bowdoin last Sunday, the Judges trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning after Bowdoin had just taken the lead in the top half of the extra frame. Second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 hit a single that advanced center fielder Carly Schmand '11 to third base after Schmand had been placed at second base to start the inning. In an attempt to tie the game, coach Jessica Johnson called for the next batter, shortstop Chelsea Korp '10, to attempt a suicide squeeze bunt, in which a runner on third base begins to steal home immediately before the bunt is put in play,

The Judges executed the play successfully, as Korp's bunt scored Schmand, but Bowdoin senior pitcher Karen Reni threw the ball wide of senior catcher Alison Coleman trying to throw Schmand out. The error allowed Cagar to score the game-winning run from second base to seal the 5-4 victory.

"That was a fun play," Cagar said. . "When I was running to third I saw that they had overthrown the ball past the catcher, so my first instinct was to score; so that's what I did."

While Vaillette started this game for Brandeis as well, she did not get the win, as coach Jessica Johnson replaced her with pitcher Caroline Miller '12 in the top of the seventh inning.

"We had taken a look at who was coming up [for Bowdoin], and their seven, eight and nine hitters did not face [Miller] in the first game, and they actually were the only ones from Bowdoin who were doing anything off of [Vaillette], for the most part, so we decided that we would throw [Miller] because they were new for her and vice versa," Johnson said.

The Judges took the first game against Bowdoin 7-4. Brandeis got out to a 2-0 lead on RBIs from designated hitter Brittany Grimm '12 and Cagar. The Judges then added four more runs in the fourth inning thanks to three walks and another Bowdoin error.

The Polar Bears then scored four runs of their own in the top of the fifth, but Miller was able to hold on for the win.

The Judges next play today in a home doubleheader against Suffolk University at 4 p.m.