All good things must come to an end.After going 12 straight games without a loss, the No. 21 Brandeis softball team suffered a defeat on Sunday, falling 2-0 in the second game of a doubleheader against Bowdoin College. The Judges went 11-0-1 in their previous 12 games, including doubleheader sweeps against Clark University on Saturday and Worchester Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday. They now stand at 18-5-1 on the year.

The second game on Sunday remained scoreless until the third inning, when Bowdoin found all the offense they would need. The Polar Bears got two runs on RBI singles from sophomore left fielder Caroline Dewar and senior shortstop Shavonne Lord. Bowdoin junior starting pitcher Kara Nilan pitched a complete game five-hitter and allowed only one walk.

Brandeis starter Caroline Miller '12 pitched four-hitter and had just two walks, but the Judges' bats were unable to solve Nilan's strong pitching.

The Judges' best chance came in the first inning, when singles by first baseman Marianne Specker '12 and left fielder Brittany Grimm '12 gave Brandeis two players on base with one out. Rookie catcher Stacy Berg '13 and designated hitter Erin Ross '10 each popped out to end the inning.

"[Nilan] actually came in on us more than any other pitcher. . She did a great job, and we didn't make the adjustments," coach Jessica Johnson said.

In the early game on Sunday the Judges came back from an early deficit. Bowdoin took the lead 3-0 in the third inning on four hits, but the Judges scored six straight runs to win 6-3.

The Judges scored their first run of the game on a Bowdoin error in the fourth inning, one of four for the Polar Bears in the game. Brandeis then scored again the following inning to get within 1 when second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 reached base on a sacrifice.

The Judges pulled away in the sixth, scoring all three of their runs with two outs. The Judges tied the game in the sixth on an RBI single from right fielder Carly Schmand '11 and took the lead for good on a two-run single by Cagar in the same inning.

"It's always tough to play back-to-back days, and especially [with] going away and having a long bus ride, we came out a little bit dead; but we came back in the second half of that game and we played really well," shortstop Chelsea Korp '10 said.

On Saturday the Judges received two strong pitching performances on the way to sweeping a doubleheader against Clark University. In the first game, the Judges won 7-2, thanks in large part to the pitching of Emily Vaillette '10.

The senior had a career-high 10 strikeouts, including four in the fifth inning. The Judges didn't need it, though, hitting four home runs in the game. Two came from Cagar, while Ross and Korp each hit one.

In the second game, Miller matched her teammate with 10 strikeouts while leading the Judges to a 4-0 win. Offensively Brandeis took a 2-0 lead on a single by Specker that scored Korp an RBI groundout from Grimm.

Those runs proved to be more than enough, but the Judges added on some insurance in the fourth on a solo homerun from center fielder Lauren Porcaro '12 and a double from Specker, her second RBI of the game.

"[Vaillette and Miller] both did extremely well [Saturday]," Johnson added. "Clark's offense has been pretty productive all year, so they pretty much shut them down entirely, which was pretty impressive."

On Wednesday, the Judges' bats were on fire as they swept a doubleheader from WPI 10-1 in six innings and 12-4 in five innings. Brandeis ended the game with a walk-off two-run homer from first baseman Courtney Kelley '11 in the bottom of the sixth that invoked the eight-run mercy rule.

In the second game, the Judges batted around in the first inning and quickly went up 4-0 on five hits and one error.

WPI then countered with a four-run inning of its own off Miller in the top of the second, Brandeis scored four runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to end it, with Kelley once again having the walk-off hit.

Berg was the offensive star of the day for the Judges, hitting two two-run homers in the first game and adding three more RBIs in the second game.

"I think we adjusted very well," Korp said. "We had a week before where it was just practices; we really were focused on our hitting, and I think it showed once we finally came out and played."

The Judges will be in action tomorrow afternoon when they host a doubleheader against Wheaton College, starting at 3 p.m.