More national honors for Eddie Orozco

It's a Friday, it has stopped raining (at least temporarily), the sun was out briefly this morning, the countdown to our June 1 opener at Walla Walla is down to 77 days, and it's now just 81 more days until Home Opener VI, June 5 against Klamath Falls at Goss Stadium.

And, we've got more good news to add.

Knights' alum Eddie Orozco, a senior RHP at UC Riverside, was selected as a College Baseball Insider National Player of the Week for his three-hit, 15-strikeout shutout of Sacramento State on March 10. He already had earned Big West Conference and Louisville Slugger Player of the Week honors.

Here are all the details from the UCR website. Congrats again, Eddie!

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Our best-ever promotional schedule was released today, and it includes two Fireworks Nights, visits by the San Diego Chicken and ZOOperstars!, two Dashes for Cash, the Mario Pastega House Cap Night, and lots of other exciting stuff.

For all the details, just check out the 2012 promotional schedule on our website.

See you at the ballpark!

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UC Santa Barbara freshman pitcher/first baseman/2012 Corvallis Knight Greg Mahle continued his torrid spring on Thursday in a 10-7 victory over Rhode Island at UCSB.

Mahle was 2-for-3 with a run and three two-out RBIs. He upped his average to .396 in 15 games, with 13 RBIs. Mahle also pitches and had 10 strikeouts in six innings last Tuesday in a 3-2 loss to Fresno State.

Several other 2012 Knights, or Knights alums, were also in action on Thursday.

* Riverside City College outfielder Cade Gotta (2011-12) was 0-for-2 with two RBIs in a 7-6 win over Saddleback College.

* UC Irvine freshman infielder Chris Rabago (2012) was 0-for 2 and reliever Evan Brock (2010) gave up two runs in one-third of an inning in an 8-3 loss at Nevada.

Most everyone else will be in action this weekend. We'll have updates on our Division I players on Monday and on our Division II, Division III, NAIA and JC players on Tuesday.

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Here's some news from around the West Coast League:

WALLA WALLA: The Sweets have signed pitchers Doug Ashby, a sophomore from Baylor, and WCL veteran Ben Ruff for the 2012 season. Here are all the details from the Walla Walla website.

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That's all for today. Have a great weekend!

Hoover throws 1-hitter, stymies Washington State

These are the saddest of possible words:

January to February to March.

A trio of winter months, miserable, you've heard,

January to February to March.

Ruthlessly rainy, dreary and hazy,

Making Oregonians go steadily crazy,

Praying for sunshine and days that are lazy.

January to February to March.

OK, please excuse our hack poetry, but it's hard not to feel that enough is enough after waking up to another rainy morning, with, the weathermen tell us, several more to come.

Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not a train. It's opening day, and as of this morning it's only 78 days until our June 1 season opener against the Walla Walla Sweets at Borleske Stadium, and just 82 until Opening Night VI, set for June 5 at Goss Stadium against the Klamath Falls Gems.

So hang on, Knights fans. The rain will stop (it always has, anyways); sunny days are on the way, and we expect to field another contending team in 2012 as we defend our West Coast League championship.

Now, on to the news.

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Knights' veteran starter/reliever Nick Hoover (2009-11) of UC Irvine had a career day on Wednesday in a 6-0 victory over Washington State.

Making his first start since his sophomore year, "Hoov" pitched a one-hitter over 7.2 innings, with five strikeouts. Knights' all-star closer Mark Trentacosta (2011-12) finished up with 1.1 scoreless innings, with three strikeouts.

Here are the details from the UCI website.

UCI's Chris Rabago (2012) was 3-for-4; WSU's Nate Blackham (2011-12) and Taylor Ard (2009) were each 0-for-3.

Elsewhere on Wednesday:

* Texas Tech pitcher Aaron Corwin (2010, 2012) allowed an unearned run in one inning of relief in a 25-5 win over Alabama A&M. Former Knight Bo Altobelli (2010) was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs.

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George Fox junior pitcher Alex Keenan, a 10-day signee, was nominated for Northwest Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for March 5-11, but was not selected.

Keenan pitched two scoreless innings, with four strikeouts, and got the save in GFU's 6-5 victory over Pacific on March 10. He's 2-1 with a 1.93 in five games, with nine strikeouts in 9.1 innings.

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Former Aloha Knight Ben De Mond (2000) died in an autombobile accident in Connecticut on March 9. He also played for the Bellingham Bells; here are the details from The Bellingham Herald newspaper.

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Some news from around the West Coast League:

COWLITZ: The Black Bears have signed Cornell freshman pitcher Brian McAfee and Corey Oswalt, a third baseman from San Diego who has committed to UC Santa Barbara, for the 2012 season. Here are the details from the Our Sports Central website.

WENATCHEE: The AppleSox have signed Cal Poly infielder Ryan Drobny, University of San Francisco catcher Tyler Schultz, and Glendale (Calif.) Community College pitcher Kirk Edson for the 2012 season. You can read all about it by clicking right here.

WALLA WALLA: Here is the latest installment of 10 Things to Know About Sweets Baseball, a regular feature on their webpage.

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That's all for today. We'll wrap up the week on Friday with more news on the Knights and items from around the WCL.

WOU's Nylen wins Player of the Week honors

Sorry to sound like a broken record .... AGAIN ... but another member of the Corvallis Knights has earned Player of the Week honors from his conference.

This time the award-winner is junior outfielder Matt Nylen (2011-12) of Western Oregon, a transfer from coach (and ex-Knight) Bryan Donahue's outstanding program at Mt. Hood Community College. Nylen earned Great Northwest Conference Player of the Week honors for his performance in a weekend series against Northwest Nazarene.

Nylen was 6-for-13 with six RBIs in the four games. He raised his average 35 points to .323, and had at least one hit in all four contests.

So, congrats to Matt, who joins UC Riverside pitcher Eddie Orozco (2008-09); Cal Poly outfielder Nick Torres (2012) and Concordia first baseman Sean Myrom (2011) as a Player of the Week honoree from his their respective conferences.

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Speaking of Myrom, he was one of many former/current Knights in action on Tuesday. He was 1-for-4 with a run in Concordia's 12-5 victory over St. Martin's. Eric Weir (2012) was the winner, as he threw three innings of scoreless relief, with two strikeouts.

Here's a roundup of other Knights in action on Tuesday:

* Riverside City College outfielder Cade Gotta (2011-12) was 1-for-5 with a run in a 10-4 loss to Orange Coast College.

* UC Irvine fell 3-2 to Pepperdine at Dodger Stadium in the Dodgertown Classic. Anteaters' infielder Chris Rabago (2012) had an RBI HBP in his lone plate appearance. Nick Hoover (2009-11) pitched an inning of scoreless relief and Evan Brock (2010) and Mark Trentacosta (2011-12) each threw 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

* Pitcher Chris Johnson (2011-12) of Portland threw three scoreless innings, with three strikeouts, in a 4-1 win at Washington. He was pulled to save his arm for his regular Sunday start. Infielder Caleb Whalen (2012) was 0-for-3 with a run scored.

* Washington State outfielder Nate Blackham (2011-12) was 0-for-4 with two runs in a 9-8 win at Cal State Fullerton. First baseman Taylor Ard (2009) was 3-for-6 with two RBIs, two runs and his fourth homer.

* Texas sophomore DH Alex Silver (2012) was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI in a 6-1 win over No. 20 Texas State.

* UC Santa Barbara pitcher Greg Mahle gave up four hits and three runs and was the loser in a 3-2 setback against Fresno State. However, he had 10 strikeouts.

* Former broadcaster Jason Schwartz (2010) was at the Dodgertown Classic on Tuesday, handling the USC broadcast during the Trojans' game against UCLA. Jason starts his new job with the Lancaster JetHawks, Houston's Class A California League franchise, on Monday. He worked for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2011.

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OK, no updates. That's all for today; we'll be back tomorrow, with more Knights news and some updates from around the West Coast League.

Concordia's Sean Myrom named CCC Player of the Week

You'd never know it by looking outside - with all the snow and slop in Corvallis this morning - but the season is drawing ever-closer.

It's only 80 more days until our June 1 opener at Walla Walla against the Sweets, and a mere 84 days until June 5 and Opening Night VI against the Klamath Falls Gems at Goss Stadium.

That seems like a long ways away, but it will get here fast (the countdown started at 143, way back on Jan. 10). So now is a great time to get your season tickets or 3-game mini-plans, or to pick up some Knights' merchandise so you're dressed appropriately come opening night.

Of course, tickets and merchandise are also available down here at the Knights World-Wide Headquarters (the WWHQ) in the Madison Plaza building in downtown Corvallis. Come see us!

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We've got more player of the week honors to announce. Yesterday, you may remember, the Big West Conference named Nick Torres (2012) of Cal Poly and Eddie Orozco (2008-09) of UC Riverside as its Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Today, it's Sean Myrom's turn. The 2011 West Coast League all-star and champion of the All-Star Game Home Run Derby was selected as the Cascade Collegiate Conference's Player of the Week for March 5-11.

Myrom hit two homers, a double, scored six times and drove in six runs in a weekend series against Menlo College in Atherton, Calif. He also had five walks for an on-base percentage of .524, and hit .462 (6-13)as the Cavaliers split the four-game series.

Here's the release from the Concordia website announcing the honor. Congrats to Sean!

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Ex-Knights reliever Jimmie Sherfy (2011) of Oregon has been outstanding this spring and is 2-0 with two saves, 31 strikeouts and a 1.02 ERA in 17.2 innings over five appearances. He recently was named the Pacific-12 Conference Pitcher of the Week.

"The Sherf" had a great summer with the Knights (1-0, 1.82 in 14 games) and it's carried over into this season. Here'a a story detailing his progress from his hometown newspaper, the Ventura (Calif.) County Star.

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Ex-Knights' star Matt Hague (2005), the "Slider Guy" on much of our promotional material, is turning heads in the Pittsburgh Pirates training camp, as the former Washington/Oklahoma State star is making a strong bid for a major-league job.

Here's a story on his progress from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper, and another one from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Matt was added to the Pirates' 40-man MLB roster after a standout 2011 season at triple-A Indianapolis (.309, 12-75). We're hopeful he can become the next Knight to make it to the majors.

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We updated the statistics of our Division I players on Monday, Today, here's an update on how our Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college players are faring:

PACIFIC LUTHERAN: Outfielder Jacob Hoffman is hitting .282 (11-39) in 14 games, with three homers and 13 RBIs. Utility Chris Bishop is 0-for-7 as a hitter, but is 2-0, 2.35 in five games as a pitcher, with 24 strikeouts in 30.1 innings.

REDLANDS: Pitcher Kyle Hart is 3-1, 3.71 in six games, with 23 strikeouts in 34 innings. Pitcher Mike Massari is 0-2, 7.36 in 10 games, with 10 strikeouts in 11 innings.

GEORGE FOX: Pitcher Alex Keenan is 2-1, 1.93 in five games, with nine strikeouts in 9.1 innings.

GRAND CANYON: Pitcher Jorge Perez is 0-2, 3.80 in five games, with 21 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.

WESTERN OREGON: Outfielder Matt Nylen is hitting .323 (21-65) in 18 games, with no homers and 15 RBIs.

LINFIELD: Pitcher Zach Manley is 1-1, 5.09 in 17.2 innings in four games, with 20 strikeouts.

PACIFIC: Pitcher Rob Dittrick is 3-1, 2.67 in five games, with 21 strikeouts in 31 innings.

CORBAN: Infielder Marc Gallegos is hitting .403 (31-77) in 18 games, with seven RBIs and 18 steals in 20 attempts.

CONCORDIA: Pitcher Eric Weir is 1-1, 6.15 in five games, with 20 strikeouts in 26.1 innings.

RIVERSIDE CC: Outfielder Cade Gotta is hitting .339 (20-59) in 18 games, with two homers and 11 RBIs.

COLLEGE OF THE SISKYOUS: Infielder Caylen Clardy is hitting .283 (15-53) in 17 games, with no homers, six RBIs and eight steals in 10 attempts.

MT. HOOD: Pitcher Kendall Motes is 0-1, 2.86 in two games, with five strikeouts inn 3.2 innings. Catcher Dane Lund is hitrting .286 (4-14) in six games, with no homers or RBIs. Infielder Alex Foulon is hitting .214 (3-14) with an RBI in six games, and outfielder Tristan Metcalf is hitting .167 (1-6) in five games.

LINN-BENTON: The Roadrunners have not updated their stats. Infielder Austin Hamilton will play for the Knights this summer.

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That's all for today. We'll be back on Wednesday with some updates from the Knights, and from around the West Coast League.

Torres, Orozco win Big West Player of the Week honors

Great news for the Knights today from the Big West Conference.

Future Knight Nick Torres (2012) of Cal Poly and former Knights pitcher Eddie Orozco (2008-09) of UC Riverside earned the Big West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week honors on Monday for their performances this past weekend.

A freshman right fielder, Torres had five extra base hits, eight RBIs and hit .500 (8-16) with a 1.125 slugging percentage in four games.

Torres tripled, doubled and drove in five runs on Friday in a 6-3 victory over the Huskies. He also drove in the winning run. He hit his first homer against Santa Clara on Tuesday, and followed with his second in Sunday's series finale against Washington.

Torres is second in the Big West in RBIs (15) and sixth in batting average (.381).

Orozco tied the school record with 15 strikeouts and pitched a complete-game 3-hitter on Saturday in a 1-0 win over Sacramento State. He took a perfect game into the seventh before allowing a hit.

Orozco did not walk a batter, had a pickoff and faced just 29 hitters, two over the 9-inning minimum. Here's the call of the final out from the UCR radio broadcast.

He was also named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.

So, big ups to Eddie, who was a key member of our 2008 WCL champions, and of our 2009 WCL West Division champions, who lost to Wenatchee in the finals.

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It's a Monday tradition throughout the college baseball season for The Blog to update the statistics of our incoming Division I players after another weekend of action. So, here's the latest:

(We'll have updated numbers on our Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college players on Tuesday.)

CAL POLY: Freshman outfielder Nick Torres had five RBIs on Friday in a 6-3 win over Washington and is hitting .381 (24-63) with two homers and 15 RBIs in 16 games. Freshman outfielder Alex Michaels is at .300 (3-10) with no homers and an RBI in six games. Freshman Bryan Granger hasn't pitched yet. The Mustangs won 2 of 3 against Washington over the weekend.

OREGON STATE: Freshman pitcher Carlos Rodriguez is 0-0, 3.18 in five games, with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Freshman catcher Nate Esposito is hitting .000 (0-3) in four games. Freshman pitchers Mitchell Tripp and Michael McCall haven't played yet. OSU went 3-1 at the Nike Showcase tournament at Goss Stadium this past weekend.

OREGON: Sophomore outfielder Connor Hofmann is hitting .273 (6-22) with a homer and five RBIs in 10 games. Oregon was 2-2 in the Nike Showcase tournament over the weekend.

SANTA CLARA: Junior pitcher Chris Mendoza is 0-0, 8.25 with a save and a three strikeouts in 12 innings in five games. SCU lost to San Jose State in the championship game of SJSU's Jack Clifford Memorial Tournament this past weekend.

SEATTLE: Junior infielder Nate Roberts is hitting .191 (9-47) with a homer and 12 RBIs after 14 games. Seattle was 1-2 at UC Davis over the weekend; it plays host to UConn today.

UC IRVINE: Freshman infielder Chris Rabago is hitting .300 (3-10) with one RBI in seven games. Junior pitcher Mark Trentacosta is 0-0, 1.59 in 5.2 innings in four games, with seven strikeouts. UCI went 2-1 against BYU over the weekend; it plays Pepperdine at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

UC RIVERSIDE: Sophomore pitcher Dylan Stuart defeated Sacramento State on Friday and is 2-2, 4.85 in four games, with 17 strikeouts over 26 innings pitched. Freshman pitcher Antonio Gonzales is 0-0, 7.36 in five games, with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings; freshman Cody Dill hasn't pitched yet. Riverside was 2-1 vs. Sacramento State over the weekend.

PORTLAND: Freshman infielder Caleb Whalen is hitting .317 (13-41) with two homers and nine RBIs in 12 games. Junior pitcher Chris Johnson is 1-1, 5.73 in 11 innings over three games, with nine strikeouts; his scheduled start against Air Force on Sunday was rained out. UP swept three games from the Falcons on The Bluff over the weekend.

WASHINGTON STATE: Sophomore outfielder Nate Blackham is hitting .364 (16-44) with seven RBIs in 12 games. The Cougars lost 2 of 3 at UNLV over the weekend.

TEXAS: Sophomore infielder Alex Silver is hitting .190 (4-21) in seven games, with no homers and two RBIs. Sophomore pitchers Trevor Tykel and Justin Peters have not played yet. The Longhorns split two games with Loyola Marymount in Austin over the weekend.

UC SANTA BARBARA: Freshman utility man Greg Mahle is hitting .364 (17-44) with no homers and 10 RBIs, in 13 games and is 0-0, 7.04 with six strikeouts in 7.2 innings as a pitcher in three appearances. UCSB was 1-2 at Nevada this past weekend.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Freshman infielder Jack Graham is hitting .195 (8-41) over 12 games, with two RBIs. The Penguins split two games at VMI this past weekend.

TEXAS TECH: Junior Aaron Corwin is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA over one inning in his lone appearance. He did not pitch in a loss to TCU, the only game the Red Raiders could play of a scheduled 3-game series in Fort Worth.

CORNELL: Sophomore infielder Ryan Plantier is hitting .500 (1-2) with two RBIs in two games. He did not play in a four-game series at George Washington this past weekend.

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Some news from around the West Coast League:

KLAMATH FALLS: Here's the latest edition of the Gems Player Spotlight, a regular feature of the Klamath Falls website.

OSU's home opener; Gotta stays red-hot

It's another glorious, sunny day down at the WWHQ and better yet, it's Opening Night at Oregon State. Baseball is back in Corvallis!

Our longtime partner school gets the local baseball scene off to a flying start tonight when it hosts West Virginia at 5:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium. Knights' alum Ben Wetzler (2011) is the scheduled starter. Knights alum Jace Fry (2011) starts Saturday's 3 p.m. game against Illinois.

We've got plenty of other alums on the team (Taylor Starr, Ryan Gorton, Adam Duke, Matt Boyd, Scott Schultz, Danny Hayes, Jake Rodriguez). Freshmen pitchers Michael McCall, Carlos Rodriguez and Mitchell Tripp, and freshman catcher Nate Esposito will join us after OSU's season is over.

So, good luck to the Beavers!

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Like the Beavers, all of our other 2012 signees should be in action this weekend. Several got a head start and played on Thursday; here's an update:

* Riverside City College outfielder Cade Gotta (2011-12) prolonged his current hot streak by hitting an inside-the-park two-run homer, singling and scoring twice in a 6-4 victory over Golden West College.

Cade's hitting .429 (9-21) in his last six games, with a homer, six RBIs, three doubles, a triple and nine runs scored. He's upped his average from .235 to a robust .309 in that span, and now has two homers and 11 RBIs in 17 games.

* UC Irvine reliever Mark Trentacosta (2011-12) pitched two scoreless innings and was credited with a hold in a 3-1 victory over BYU. He struck out four and allowed one hit.

* Mt. Hood CC lost 4-3 to Clark (Wash.) CC on Wednesday. Infielder Alex Foulon (2011-12) was 2-for-5, catcher Dane Lund (2011-12) was 0-for-3 and outfielder Tristan Metcalf (2012), a 10-day signee, was 0-for-2.

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Some news from around the West Coast League:

BELLINGHAM: The Bells have signed pitchers Jeff Gonzales of Bellevue College and Chris Harper of Ohlone College for the 2012 season. Here are the details from the Bells' website.

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That's it for today. Sorry for the abreviated blog, but it's a Friday and we've got a Beavers game to go to! Play ball!

Altobelli named the Johnny Bench Award watch list

Some good news this morning via Lubbock, Texas, the home of the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Junior catcher and former Corvallis Knight Bo Altobelli is one of 43 players from around the country to be listed on the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award for the second season in a row.

He is one of 11 players to be named to the Bench Award Watch List for the second consecutive season. He's hitting .306 (15-49) this season, with seven runs, one home run, six RBIs and three steals in three attempts.

The award honors players who serve as their team's starting catcher in at least 75 percent of the games. Semifinalists will be announced on May 16, finalists on June 4. The winner will be announced on June 28 in ceremonies at Wichita, Kan.

So, congrats to Bo!

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The always-anticipated countdown hits 85 today: It's a mere 85 more days until our June 1 opener at Walla Walla against the Sweets. And that means, just 89 more days until Opening Night VI, June 5 against the Klamath Falls Gems.

I know it seems like a long ways away, but it's not. And with the Beavers opening their home season on Friday night against West Virginia, it seems closer than ever. So make sure you order your season tickets and three-game mini-packs, either online or at the Knights WWHQ in the Madison Plaza building in downtown Corvegas.

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Pretty slim day on Wednesday in the world of college baseball. Only one of our feeder schools was in action.

* Ex-Knights shortstop Trent Oleszczuk (2011) was 1-for-4 for Seattle U in a 1-0 victory over St. Joseph's. Teammate Nate Roberts (2011-12) did not play.

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Here's a story from The Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper, on former Knights star Brent Morel (2006-07), the starting third baseman for the Chicago White Sox and one of the stars of our January Hot Stove Night.

The ChiSox expect a big season from Morel after a strong September. He had eight homers and 19 RBIs in that month and walked 15 times in 85 at-bats after walking just seven times in his previous 328 at-bats.

"Finishing up strong definitely gives me some confidence going into this season," Morel says in the story. "Like I said, I don't think I'm going to go out there and hit 40 home runs or anything, but hitting for more power is something I think I'm capable of doing."

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Former Knight Matt Hague (2005), the "Slider Guy" on our posters, programs and other promotional material, is bidding for a big-league job with the Pittsburgh Pirates after a strong season at triple-A Indianapolis earned him a spot on their 40-man roster.

Here's a writeup on the former Washington/Oklahoma State star from the website Rum Bunter, a Pittsburgh sports website that I've never heard of.

Here's another story that mentions Hague from MLB.com, with a video of a two-run homer he hit off of Corvallis native Kevin Gregg of the Orioles two nights ago.

Big day for future Knight Nick Torres

It was a big day for 2012 Corvallis Knight Nick Torres of Cal Poly on Tuesday when the Mustangs visited Santa Clara for an unofficial Corvallis Knights reunion day at Schott Stadium.

Santa Clara won 11-6, but Torres was the star. He homered, doubled, scored twice and drove in a run to raise his average to .353. Former Knight Jimmy Allen (2011) also doubled, singled twice, scored a run and drove in another for the Mustangs to up his average to .404.

Cal Poly's David Armendariz, our 2011 MVP, was 2-for-4 with a run. Mitch Haniger (2010) was 0-for-4 and Alex Michael was 0-for-1 for the Mustangs.

Chris Mendoza (2010-12) pitched the first five innings for Santa Clara and allowed four earned runs. He was not involved in the decision. Ex-Knight Justin Viele (2010) was 2-for-3 and scored twice for the Broncos.

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Some other former or future Knights were also in action on Monday-Tuesday; here's a roundup.

* Portland's Caleb Whalen (2012) was 1-for-4 in a 5-0 win at Concordia on Tuesday. Sean Myrom (2011) was 0-for-3 for the Cavaliers.

* UC Riverside's Mitch Patito (2010-11) allowed three runs and had seven strikeouts in four innings and was the losing pitcher in a 4-0 setback at UCLA on Monday.

* Seattle infielder Trent Oleszczuk (2011) was 1-for-3 with a run in a 4-3, 10-inning victory over St. Joseph's on Tuesday. They play again today.

* DH Alex Silver (2012) of Texas was 1-for-4 on Tuesday in a 2-1, 12-inning victory over Dallas Baptist.

* Pitcher Greg Mahle of UC Santa Barbara was 1-for-1, allowed three earned runs and had four strikeouts in 5.1 innings of a 7-6 loss to Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday. He left with a 6-4 lead but was not involved in the decision.

* Outfielder Cade Gotta (2011-12) doubled twice, scored once and drove in a run on Monday in Riverside City College's 8-2 win over Fullerton JC.

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Pacific University pitcher Rob Dittrick, (2012) a 10-day signee, was named the Northwest Conferenbce Pitcher of the Week for his performance in a 7-1 victory over No. 2 Linfield this past Saturday. The junior from Mililani, Hawaii, threw Pacific's second complete game of the season and allowed just three hits over the first six innings.

He helped lead Pacific to its first series win over the Wildcats since 2001. Congrats to Rob!

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Great exposure for the Knights in the Salem Statesman-Journal this morning, with their Page 3 story on new assistant Andy Jenkins, a Salem native and graduate of South Salem High School. Most of our boosters come from the Albany-Corvallis area, but we've had some fans from Salem-Keizer at the ballpark and we always want to keep them in the loop.

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Some news from around the West Coast League:

WALLA WALLA: Here's the latest installment of "10 Things to Know About Sweets Baseball," a regular feature on the Sweets' website.

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That's it for today, barring some late developments. We're down to 86 more days until our June 1 opener at Walla Walla; it's just 90 more days until our June 5 home opener against Klamath Falls.

So, don't forget to order season tickets, or our new 3-game mini-packs, either online or in person at our World Wide Headquarters (WWHQ) in the Madison Plaza building in downtown Corvallis.

See you on Thursday!

Knights hire Andy Jenkins as new assistant coach

We're off to co-host the Joe Beaver Show on KEJO, the flagship station of the Knights, in about an hour. The Blog will be pinch-hitting for Mike Parker, who is in Los Angeles for the Pac-12 men's basketball tournament.

But we've got a few news items to get out of the way first, starting with this headliner:

The Knights have hired former Oregon State star Andy Jenkins as our assistant coach, succeeding the Klamath Falls-bound Billy Clontz. "Jenks" will join fifth-year head coach Brooke Knight and second-year pitching coach Connor Lambert on our summer staff.

Andy played at South Salem and at Mt. Hood before heading to OSU in 2004-05. He then played in the Florida (now Miami) and Texas minor-league systems for six years until retiring in 2011. He's an undergraduate assistant at OSU this spring while finishing up his degree.

Here are all the details on our latest addition. Welcome aboard!

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A future Knight and a former Knight were nominated for Big West Conference honors this week, but were not selected.

Cal Poly freshman infielder Nick Torres (2012) hit .389 (7-18) at the SDSU Aztec Invitational, with two doubles and two RBIs, and was nominated for Player of the Week.

UC Riverside senior Eddie Orozco (2008-09) went eight innings in a 10-1 win at Sam Houston State on March 3. He allowed one run and seven hits and six strikeouts, and was nominated for Pitcher of the Week.

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We updated the statistics of our Division I players yesterday, Today, here's an update on how our Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college players are faring:

PACIFIC LUTHERAN: Outfielder Jacob Hoffman is hitting .226 (7-31) in 11 games, with two homers and five RBIs. Utility Chris Bishop is 0-for-7 as a hitter, but is 1-0, 1.99 in four games as a pitcher, with 18 strikeouts in 22.2 innings.

REDLANDS: Pitcher Kyle Hart is 2-1, 3.33 in five games, with 19 strikeouts in 27 innings. Pitcher Mike Massari is 0-2, 4.50 in eight games, with 10 strikeouts in 10 innings.

GEORGE FOX: Pitcher Alex Keenan is 2-1, 2.45 in four games, with five strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

GRAND CANYON: Pitcher Jorge Perez is 0-2, 4.41 in four games, with 19 strikeouts in 16.1 innings.

WESTERN OREGON: Outfielder Matt Nylen is hitting .288 (15-52) in 14 games, with no homers and nine RBIs.

LINFIELD: Pitcher Zach Manley is 1-1, 5.84 in 13 innings in three games, with 15 strikeouts.

PACIFIC: Pitcher Rob Dittrick is 2-1, 3.27 in four games, with 14 strikeouts in 22 innings.

CORBAN: Infielder Marc Gallegos is hitting .441 (26-59) in 14 games, with seven RBIs.

CONCORDIA: Pitcher Eric Weir is 0-1, 5.73 in four games, with 15 strikeouts in 22 innings.

RIVERSIDE CC: Outfielder Cade Gotta is hitting .283 (13-46) in 15 games, with a homer and eight RBIs.

COLLEGE OF THE SISKYOUS: Infielder Caylen Clardy is hitting .289 (13-45) in 12 games, with no homers and five RBIs.

MT. HOOD: The Saints have not updated their stats; pitcher Kendall Motes, catcher Dane Lund, infielder Alex Foulon and outfielder Tristan Metcalf will play for the Knights this summer.

LINN-BENTON: The Roadrunners have not updated their stats. Infielder Austin Hamilton will play for the Knights this summer.

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Some news from around the WCL:

WENATCHEE: The AppleSox have signed four players from Pacific Lutheran and George Fox, two of the Northwest's top NCAA Division III programs. They are left-handed pitcher Trevor Lubking and outfielder Taylor Wattenberg of PLU, and infielder Derek Blankenship and catcher Josh Rapacz of George Fox. Here are all the details from the team's website.

Knights announce three-game mini-plans

Welcome back to reality - er, Monday - after a beautiful weekend in the Center of the Universe, Corvallis, Oregon, USA. If Saturday and Sunday didn't get you fired up for baseball, nothing can!

We're down to 88 days until our June 1 opener in Walla Walla against the Sweets, and down to 92 more days until Opening Day VI, set for June 5 at Goss Stadium against the Klamath Falls Gems.

And we've just made it easier and more affordable for you to purchase Knights' tickets. Starting today, we're offering three three-game mini-ticket plans so you can reserve a seat for some of our top promotional nights, and save a few bucks in the meantime.

So, check it out by clicking right here. You won't be sorry!

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The Blog will be talking some Corvallis Knights baseball (and other topics) on Tuesday, when we pinch-hit for Mike Parker and co-host the Joe Beaver Show with Jon Warren. Should be fun.

The show will air from noon until 2 p.m. on KEJO 1240 AM, our flagship station. We'll also have some important Knights news to announce that will be of interest to all our fans. So tune in; if you can't listen via radio, KEJO's streaming audio is available by clicking here.

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Former Knights' Brent Morel (2006-07) and Matt "Slider Guy" Hague (2005) signed their 2012 contracts with the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively, over the weekend.

Brent is the ChiSox starting third baseman. Hague was promoted to the Bucs' 40-man roster in the offseason and is a good bet to make the team.

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It's a Monday after another weekend of competition for our 2012 Knights, so today we'll update the stats of our incoming Division I players. On Tuesday, we'll have updated numbers on our Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college players.

Here we go!

CAL POLY: Freshman outfielder Nick Torres is hitting .340 (16-47) with no homers and seven RBIs in 12 games. Frosh outfielder Alex Michaels is at .250 (1-4) with no homers or RBIs in two games. Freshman Bryan Granger hasn't pitched yet. The Mustangs were 2-2 at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational last weekend.

OREGON STATE: Freshman pitcher Carlos Rodriguez is 0-0, 6.75 in four games, with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings. Freshman catcher Nate Esposito is hitting .000 (0-1) in two games. Freshman pitchers and Michael McCall haven't played yet. OSU went 3-1 in a tournament in Surprise, Ariz., last Thursday-Sunday.

OREGON: Sophomore outfielder Connor Hofman is hitting .278 (5-18) with a homer and five RBIs in seven games. Oregon swept a three-game set against Long Beach State last weekend to improve to 10-1.

SANTA CLARA: Junior pitcher Chris Mendoza is 0-0, 9.00 with a save and a three strikeouts in seven innings in seven games. SCU went 2-1 against San Jose State this past weekend.

SEATTLE: Junior infielder Nate Roberts is hitting .167 (6-36) with a homer and 10 RBIs after 11 games. Seattle defeated St. Martin's on Saturday in its lone weekend game.

UC IRVINE: Freshman infielder Chris Rabago is hitting .286 (2-7) with one RBI in five games. Junior pitcher Mark Trentacosta is 0-0, 3.00 in three innings in two games, with three strikeouts. UCI went 1-2 against Washington over the weekend.

UC RIVERSIDE: Pitcher Dylan Stuart is 1-2, 4.29 in three games, with 12 strikeouts over 21 innings pitched. Freshman pitcher Antonio Gonzales is 0-0, 10.12 in four games, with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings; freshman Cody Dill hasn't pitched yet. Riverside was 1-2 at Sam Houston State over the weekend.

PORTLAND: Freshman infielder Caleb Whalen is hitting .357 (10-28) with two homers and eight RBIs in eight games. Junior pitcher Chris Johnson is 1-1, 5.73 in 11 innings over three games, with nine strikeouts. UP was 1-2 at Cal State-Bakersfield over the weekend.

WASHINGTON STATE: Sophomore outfielder Nate Blackham is hitting at .406 (13-32) clip with seven RBIs in nine games. The Cougars won two of three vs. Northern Colorado over the weekend.

TEXAS: Sophomore infielder Alex Silver is hitting .277 (3-11) in four games played, with no homers and two RBIs. Sophomore pitchers Trevor Tykel and Justin Peters have not played yet. The Longhorns lost two of three at the Houston College Classic over the weekend.

UC SANTA BARBARA: Freshman utility man Greg Mahle is hitting .414 (12-29) with no homers and seven RBIs, and is 0-0, 11.57 with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings as a pitcher, in nine games. UCSB was 1-2 against Loyola Marymount this past weekend.

YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Freshman infielder Jack Graham is hitting .212 (7-33) over nine games, with two RBIs. The Penguins lost three games at the Austin Peay tournament this past weekend.

TEXAS TECH: Junior Aaron Corwin is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA over one inning in his lone appearance vs. Rice. Tech was 1-2 at the Houston Baseball Classic this past weekend.

CORNELL: Sophomore infielder Ryan Plantier was 1-for-2 with two RBIs in two games. Cornell swept a four-game series at Maryland-Eastern Shore this past weekend.

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That's all for today. We should have a story up on red-hot pitcher Eric Young of Delaware, a 2009-11 Knights' mainstay, later today; he has a 0.00 ERA and a 2-0 record in three starts.