Bullpen shuts down Portland, Knights rally for 7-4 victory

Saturday, July 27, Corvallis, Ore. – The Corvallis bullpen held Portland to one run in the final five innings and the Knights rallied for a series-winning 7-4 victory over the Pickles before 1,670 fans at Goss Stadium.

Sean Wiese (Arizona Christian) entered in the fifth, allowed one run in three innings and got the win. Garren Rizzo (USC, pictured above) wriggled out of a two-on, no-out jam in the eighth to preserve the 6-4 lead. Corvallis added an insurance run in the eighth and Caleb Debban (George Fox) had a perfect ninth for his second save in his last two appearances.

Debban had a four-inning save at Ridgefield on July 23 in his last outing. He extended his scoreless streak to 14.1 inning over seven games, with 14 strikeouts and only seven hits allowed.

Corvallis (39-10 overall, 34-10 WCL, 12-5 second half) won its fifth game in a row and its 15^th straight against the Pickles in the last three seasons. The Knights remained 1.5 games behind first-place Ridgefield in the West Coast League’s South Division second-half playoff chase.

It also moved three games ahead of Portland (31-13 all, 14-5 second half) in overall WCL wins with 10 games remaining. Overall record determines home-field advantage in the final two rounds of the West Coast League postseason.

Newcomer Ben Leid (Central Washington), who joined the team on Thursday, was 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs to earn Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game plaudits.

Corvallis had just six hits but took advantage of 11 walks and a hit batter. They erased a 4-3 deficit in the fifth by scoring three times; Tyler Howard (Portland) walked with the bases loaded to tie the game and the go-ahead run crossed when Peyton Miller (Gonzaga) was hit by a pitch.

Thomas Ferroggiaro (Santa Clara) was 1-for 3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Brandon Cabrera (Lewis-Clark State) had two hits, two stolen bases and two walks.

The series concludes at 5:05 p.m. on July 28 on Baseball Bingo Night. Payton Riske (2-1, 3.09) of Utah is the Knights’ probable, opposed by Portland ace Freddy Rodriguez (4-0, 1.12) of Hawaii.

Corvallis hosts the Walla Walla Sweets on July 29-31, then wraps up the seven-game homestand with an Aug. 1 non-league encounter against the Cascade Collegiate League Showcase team.

Corvallis claimed the first-half South Division championship and advanced to the West Coast League playoffs for the 17^th consecutive season. The postseason starts on Aug. 10; Corvallis will have the home-field advantage in the best-of-3 divisional round.

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