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Box Scores: NNU 3, SSU 2  |  SSU 4, UHH 0  |  SSU 4, GCU 0

TURLOCK, Calif. -- After suffering a 3-2 loss to Northwest Nazarene to open play on Saturday, Sonoma State bounced back with a pair of 4-0 victories over Hawai'i-Hilo and Grand Canyon.  What comes next is almost unbelievable.  Junior Samantha Lipperd picked up where she left off on Friday, striking out 45 batters in 20.2 innings of work, allowing just eight total hits in the three games combined, including her fifth-career no-hitter against UHH to move the Seawolves to a 24-14 overall record and 4-1 in the first two days of the Tournament of Champions in Turlock.

Lipperd has tossed every pitch for Sonoma State in this weekend's tournament (566 to be exact), recording 88 strikeouts against the 143 batters she faced while giving up just 14 hits, six runs (five earned) and eight walks in the 39.2 innings she's pitched this weekend.  She fanned at least 13 batters in each of the five SSU games this weekend, including the record-setting 26 strikeouts against Hawai'i Pacific on Friday night.  In fact, the All-American from Boulder Creek is just four strikeouts away from doubling the previous tournament strikeout record of 46, which was set back in 2003.

The most amazing stat coming out of the Tournament of Champions is this: Lipperd, with the aforementioned 88 strikeouts, has 66 more strikeouts than the player with the second-most K's in the 24-team event -- Central Washington's Maria Gau has 22.

Lipperd now has 250 strikeouts this season and 716 for her career.

Sonoma State, who finished tied with three other teams atop the Pool A Standings at 4-1 with Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State East Bay and San Francisco State, will compete for the Platinum Bracket title on Sunday.  The Seawolves will play a semifinal game against either Western Washington or Western Oregon at Pitman High School, Field #1, with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Updated tournament standings and statistics can be accessed by clicking here or by going to the tournament web page for Sunday's complete game schedule at www.warriorathletics.com/toc.

Northwest Nazarene 3, Sonoma State 2 -- Box Score  |  Archived Blogcast

After completing the 11-inning, two hour, 49-minute marathon against HPU at 11:08 p.m. Friday night, the Seawolves kept the momentum going and put a runner on second with just one out.  However, on an infield single by Vanessa Currie, Ancia Purdy attempted to round third and score, but the throw from Crusader short stop Arielle Chao was in time for catcher Elizabeth Beaty to tag Purdy out, keeping Sonoma State off the scoreboard.

It paved the way for Northwest Nazarene (6-20) to score the first run of the ballgame; a solo home run by Beaty that looked as if it would be a a routine pop up, but because of the gusty winds in Turlock, the ball sailed over the left field fence.

The Seawolves came right back with a run in the top of the third.  Currie plated Shannon Kehr with single up the middle to knot the game at 1-1.

Neither team could get anything going offensively until the Seawolf sixth when Hayley Condon stood on third base and Jayme Tickemyer stood on second.  However, NNU pitcher Krista Olson induced an inning-ending fly out by Megan Konieczka, stranding both runners in scoring position.

Lipperd struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth before Kehr came up with a two-out, solo home run to left center field, putting Sonoma State up 2-1 and just three defensive outs away from another win.

The Seawolf ace pitcher, Lipperd, struckout her ninth straight batter to lead off the seventh inning, but Chao would break up the streak with a bloop single to center field, landing just in front of a diving Danielle D'Eccliss.  Lipperd would then fan Beaty, but with two outs and on a 2-0 pitch, Refsland smashed the game-winner to overshadow another stellar performance by the junior All-American from Boulder Creek.  She gave up just three hits, two of which came in the seventh.  In addition, she struckout another 16 batters and didn't give up a walk.

Sonoma State had the ingredients for another victory; the offense banged out nine hits, including a 3 for 3 effort from Ali Palermo.  Currie went 2 for 3 with an RBI and Kehr had the go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh; her ninth of the season.

Sonoma State 4, Hawai'i-Hilo 0 -- Box Score  |  Archived Blogcast

Lipperd was just two outs away from notching her first-career perfect game, but a defensive error with one out in the top of the seventh inning ended the opportunity.  However, she was able to retire the next two batters to preserve the no-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts and not a single walk.

The offense gave Lipperd the run support she needed in the fourth inning, plating four runs on four hits, including RBI's by Konieczka, Kehr and Purdy.  Purdy and Condon had two hits to pace the Seawolves in the win.

Sonoma State 4, Grand Canyon 0 -- Box Score  |  Archived Blogcast

A run in the first, two runs in the second and another run in the third would also prove to be more than enough for Lipperd to get another win and improve to 19-7 this season.  She struckout 16 Grand Canyon batters and allowed five hits and two walks, but held the Antelopes scoreless.

Purdy, Palermo and Konieczka scattered two hits for the Sonoma State offense.