BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 GAME 1:  Sonoma State 1, Academy of Art 0  --  Box Score
GAME 2:  Sonoma State 6, Academy of Art 1  --  Box Score

ROHNERT PARK -- Samantha Lipperd tossed three-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts in the season opener and Amanda Llerena allowed just one run while striking out 10 in her collegiate debut as both earned pitching victories in Sonoma State's doubleheader sweep of visiting Academy of Art on Wednesday at the Seawolf Softball Field in Rohnert Park.  The Seawolves begin the 2013 campaign at 2-0 while the Urban Knights remain winless this season at 0-4.

GAME 1

Both teams would get off to a relatively slow start, but in the bottom of the second inning, Sonoma State's Vanessa Currie lined the first pitch she saw into left center for a leadoff single.  After reaching second on a sacrifice bunt by Megan Konieczka, then third on a wild pitch by Academy of Art starting pitcher Kimberly Dauer, Currie pranced home on an RBI double by Keisi Chinen to put the Seawolves up 1-0.

It wasn't until the fourth inning that the Urban Knights threatened to put some runs on the board on Lipperd, the nation's strikeout leader from a year ago.  Lauren Stover recorded the first hit of the game off Lipperd; a leadoff double to left center field.  Shelby Gill then walked before both Gill and Stover moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.  Another walk by Lipperd to Taylor Thurman loaded the bases, all with no outs.  However, the two-time All-American did what she did best -- worked herself out of a jam.  Lipperd dealt three straight strikeouts to the next three batters to end the Urban Knight threat.

While Lipperd held the visitors scoreless, Dauer kept the Sonoma State offense quiet at well.  After two hits by SSU in the second inning, Dauer would allow just one more hit to the host in the ballgame -- a leadoff single to Chinen in the fifth.

Clinging on to a one-run lead heading into the top of the seventh, Lipperd again found herself in a hole as the Academy of Art loaded the bases on an error and two infield hits, but with two outs.  With ART U threatening once again, Lipperd bucked down and recorded her 14th strikeout of the day to end the bases loaded threat and earn Sonoma State's first win of 2013; a 1-0 shutout.

The Seawolves overcame three defensive errors while the Urban Knights left 11 runners on base.  Both teams had just three hits apiece, but the difference would be the two-out RBI double by Chinen in the second that scored Currie from third base.  Chinen went 2 for 2 with the RBI while Currie went 1 for 1 with a walk, a sacrifice and a run scored.

Lipperd, who amassed for a nation-high 396 strikeouts in 2012, fanned 14 more victims in the first game of 2013 and earned her 33rd career shutout -- a new program record.  Her counterpart, Dauer, gave up three hits, one run and three walks, striking out one.

GAME 2

In Wednesday's nightcap, Llerena settled the nerves of her first collegiate outing with striking out two of her first three batters in the top of the first.  After two quick outs for the Seawolves in their half of the first, Hayley Condon came up with a double to right center before Currie and Ali Palermo walked to load the bases.  Konieczka put Sonoma State on the board -- painfully -- bringing home Condon on a hit by pitch for the first run of the game.  Urban Knight pitcher Shelby Gill then got Chinen to flyout to end the inning, giving up just the one run.

In the Seawolf second with Holli Brown on third and Danielle D'Eccliss on first, D'Eccliss took off for second, drawing a throw by Academy of Art catcher Jessica Marin.  Brown then took off for home and after D'Eccliss slid in safe to second, Brown slid in safe at home to give SSU the 2-0 lead.  Condon later delivered an RBI single to right center, scoring D'Eccliss from second to go up 3-0.

Both teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when the Seawolves scored three runs, all with two outs, starting with an error, then three straight singles by Condon, Currie and Palermo to give Llerena a six-run cushion going into the seventh inning.  The Urban Knights weren't going to make it easy as Thurman led off with a double before moving to third on an infield single by pinch hitter Alyssa Hickey.  With runners on the corners and no outs, Llerena came up with two big strikeouts and was on the verge of striking out the side and ending the game with an 0-2 count on Jessica Martin, but Martin lined a shot just over the outstretched hand of Ancia Purdy at shortstop and into left field, breaking up the shutout.  Llerena would come right back, though, and get the final out to secure the 6-1 win.

The freshman Llerena was just as dominant as the senior Lipperd, striking out 10 batters without allowing a walk all afternoon.  ART U's Gill (0-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up the first three runs of the game in her first one-and-two-thirds innings of work.  Haily MacDonald came in and worked the rest of the game, allowing six hits and three runs, all unearned.

Condon, after going 0 for 2 in the opener, went 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Palermo went 2 for 3 with a pair of RBI.

Sonoma State now heads to Las Vegas for the MSUB Desert Stinger, starting Friday with games against the University of Mary (2:00 p.m.) and Central Washington (7:00 p.m.) at Majestic Park.  The Seawolves are looking to defend the title they won last year after going a perfect 5-0, outscoring their opponents 48-17.

After this weekend's tournament, SSU will return home on Feb. 15-16 to host San Francisco State in the first CCAA series of the season.