ROHNERT PARK, Calif-  Eli Rimes continued to torment Cal State L.A. pitchers on Saturday as he led Sonoma State to a doubleheader sweep over the top-ranked Golden Eagles.  Rimes drove in the winning run with a two-run single in a 5-3 opening win then blasted a three-run home run to give the Seawolves a 4-1 win in the nightcap.  With the wins, the Seawolves have taken the first three games of the series with the Golden Eagles.  SSU improves to 44-7, 27-4 CCAA while CSULA drops to 36-10-1, 24-7 CCAA.

The Golden Eagles entered this weekend's four-game set as the top ranked team in the country and the region.  The Seawolves came in as the nation's fourth-ranked team and the region's No. 2.  Assured of no worse than a 3-to-1 series win, the Seawolves could enjoy their highest ever national ranking next week when the new polls come out.

With the wins, Sonoma State improves to 34-2 at Seawolf Diamond this year.

Despite being thrilled with the sweep, SSU head coach John Goelz was able to keep things in perspective, "It's huge to win these games, but we know that there's still a lot of baseball to be played."

Sonoma State pushed across single runs in the first, second, and third innings of the opener to go up 3-1 after three.  Cal State L.A. put runs across in the fourth and fifth to knot the game at three heading into the sixth. 

SSU first baseman Eli Rimes, whose grand slam was the difference in yesterday's 6-2 win, smashed a single down the right field line with runners on second and third to put SSU up 5-3.

Brent Lysander turned in another spectacular performance on the mound.  The CCAA's leader in ERA, Lysander gave up just one earned run in eight innings of work, striking out seven and walking just two to improve to 9-1 on the year.  Lysander's ERA dropped down to 1.32 on the season.  Paige Dumont pitched an overpowering ninth inning for his 14th save of the season. 

Kyle Owsley was tagged with the game one loss after throwing five runs, four of them earned and striking out seven.  Adam Klein led the Golden Eagles on offense with two hits and two RBIs.

In game two, Cal State L.A. starter Tommy Elrod was in control for five standout innings.  Elrod allowed just three hits and had the Seawolf hitters off balance.  The Golden Eagles turned the game over to the bullpen in the sixth and that's when things went south. 

After a leadoff double by David Adler, Manny Hernandez of CSULA walked Nick Nosti to put two runners on.  One out later, Tyler Wightman knocked home Adler with an RBI single, setting the stage for more Eli Rimes heroics.  The Stockton native smashed a deep home run to right center to clear the bases and put Sonoma State up 4-1.  It was the team-high 12th home run of the year for Rimes, who is hitting .700 (7-for-10) with nine RBIs in the first three games of the series.

Matt Bush was solid on the hill for the Seawolves.  Bush surrendered just three hits and one run while striking out four for his eighth win of the year.  Dumont pitched another three-up, three-down ninth for his school record 15th save of the season.

The Seawolves go for the sweep on Sunday.  First pitch is set for 11:00 am.

Game One Box
Game Two Box