Knights big comeback earns 9-6 win over Bend, sweep of series

Sunday, August 4, Corvallis, Ore. – Corvallis rallied to defeat Bend 9-6 before a Fan Appreciation Day crowd of 1,224 in their Goss Stadium regular-season finale.

The Knights (45-12 overall, 39-12 WCL, 17-7 second half) honored their host families before the game. They then remained two games ahead of Portland (36-14) in the race for the best overall record; Portland kept pace by completing a weekend sweep of Yakima Valley.

The Knights magic number to clinch the best record is one. If they win one of their final three games at Victoria, or if the Pickles lose one of their final three games against Kelona, Corvallis will enjoy home-field advantage throughout the West Coast League postseason as long as it stays alive.

Corvallis parlayed four walks, a balk, two wild pitches and four base hits into five runs in the seventh inning to erase a 6-4 Bend lead. Kevin Takeuchi (USC) singled home the tying run; Luke Lavin (Stanford) and Peyton Miller (Gonzaga) doubled home insurance tallies after the go-ahead run had scored on a wild pitch.

Tyler Howard (Portland) had a big two-run single in the sixth inning to draw the Knights within 6-4. Blake Wilson (Washington) had an RBI triple in the first inning.

Ty Yukumoto (Gonzaga), Kevin Khansarinia (UCLA) and Quin Dufort (Portland) each scored twice. The Knights had only seven hits but Bend pitchers combined for nine walks and one hit batsman to fuel the comeback.

Reliever Garren Rizzo (USC) went three scoreless innings to nab the win and to earn Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors. He allowed only two hits and recorded the final nine eight outs via strikeout.

Corvallis concludes the regular season at Victoria on Aug. 5-7. The scheduled starters are Caleb Debban (4-1, 1.36) of George Fox, Cohen Gomez (2-0, 3.76) of Stanford and Jackson Walker (0-0,0.00) of Yakima Valley CC, respectively.

The Knights 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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