ROHNERT PARK, Calif-  Steven Filippi walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth to score Max Shupe and give Sonoma State the winning run in an 8-7 win over Western Oregon on Thursday afternoon at Seawolf Diamond.  The 11th-ranked Seawolves improve to 5-1 on the season while the 30th-ranked Wolves fall to 0-7.

The game was marked by many missed opportunities as the teams combined for 31 runners left on base- 16 by Sonoma State and 15 by Western Oregon. 

The Wolves, trying to shake off a slow start to their 2010 season, got off on the right foot when leadoff hitter Cesar Lopez blasted a home run to left field to kick off the first.  Sonoma State would pull even on a leadoff homer in the second by Cameron Cook before Western Oregon jumped back ahead on a two-run shot from Logan Lotti in the third.

WOU starter Blake Keitman, an All-American last season, got the start and pitched well until the fourth inning when Sonoma got to him for two runs, bringing the score to 3-3.  Ryan Morales walked with the bases loaded to score one run and Shupe came in on a Joey Parigi RBI to account for the other. 

The Seawolves seem to blow things open in the sixth when they scored three off Cam Nobles, but WOU would scrape together two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. 

In the ninth inning, with darkness quickly encompassing Seawolf Diamond, the Seawolves mounted a two-out rally, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back walks to Brian Wright, Parigi, and Shupe. 

With the score 8-7, the game nearly swung back to the Wolves as Garret Breda had a leadoff single, then came around to third on a sacrifice bunt and a steal.  However, Joey Van Cleave entered the game with two outs and a 2-0 count, striking out Lotti on three pitches and closing the door.

Brian Bordagaray got the win to improve to 2-0 on the year.  Van Cleave picked up his first save and Chad Lynch was tagged with his first loss of the season. 

The teams will now try to play a single game on Friday, weather permitting, before finishing up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11:00 am.

Box Score:  Sonoma State 8, Western Oregon 7