BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 GAME 1: Sonoma State 7, #40 Western Oregon 1 -- Box Score
GAME 2: #40 Western Oregon 5, Sonoma State 3 -- Box Score

ROHNERT PARK -- Daniel Caresio enjoyed his collegiate debut on Thursday, going 2 for 3 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored and three others pounded out a pair of hits as the Sonoma State baseball team earned a 7-1 season-opening victory over visiting Western Oregon before falling in the nightcap, 5-3. 

The Seawolves open their 2014 campaign at 1-1; Sonoma's victory in game one marked the 14th consecutive season that it has opened with a win.  The last opening-day loss came at Hawaii-Hilo in 2000. The Wolves from Monmouth, Ore., who are ranked at No. 40 in the nation, move to 4-2. 

Justin Serrao got his senior season off to a fast start, going 4 for 6 with a pair of walks and a run scored in Thursday's doubleheader, going 2 for 3 in each contest.  Caresio ended the day with a 3 for 7 effort at the plate as the two led the Seawolves offensively.  Sonoma racked up 18 hits in the twinbill, including 11 in the game one victory.

Sonoma State and Western Oregon will continue the five-game series on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 10:40 am.  The fifth and final game is scheduled to be played Saturday at 11:00 am.

GAME 1

Four Seawolves recorded two hits each -- Caresio, Serrao, Jackson Stogner and Alex Crosby -- to pace the offense while George Asmus and Black Sack shut down the entire Western Oregon lineup.  Both arms worked four innings and the two combined to allow just three hits through the first eight frames.  Asmus struckout four of the 14 batters he faced and gave up just one hit before giving way to Sack.

It took a bit of time for the SSU bats to heat up, but in the fifth inning, Stogner broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double down the left field line scoring Serrao from second.  Caresio then followed with an RBI infield single scoring Jourdan Weiks for the 2-0 lead.  Two innings later, the Seawolves broke the game wide open, plating four runs on five hits, thanks to RBI's from Caresio and Crosby, and two by Devin Alexander.  Another run came across the plate in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Schwartz for the 7-0 lead.

Western Oregon finally put one on the scoreboard in its final at bat, but it would be too little, too late as Sonoma State cruised to the 7-1 win.

GAME 2

The visiting Wolves didn't waste much time to score a run and take the lead in the nightcap on an RBI single in the top of the first by Tim Rausch.  WOU built a 2-0 lead in the fourth by virtue of two defensive miscues by SSU, then took a 4-0 an inning later on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly. 

Sonoma State got two runs back in the fifth and another in the sixth, but that's all the Seawolves could muster in the seven-inning affair.  In fact, Sonoma left 10 runners on base, including three in the bottom of the second inning.  In 15 offensive innings on Thursday, SSU stranded a combined 19 base runners.

Schwartz went 2 for 4 with an RBI in game two while Brandon Baranzini went 1 for 3 with a pair of RBI.  On the mound, Aaron Gillis was tagged with the loss despite giving up just one run in three innings of work.