Feist’s RBI Single Caps Knights’ 6-5, Comeback Victory Over Pickles

PORTLAND – Austin Feist’s (pictured, above) two-out single in the top of the ninth drove in the winning run as the Knights edged Portland 6-5 in the rubber game of their West Coast League series at Walker Stadium.

Chad Stevens (Portland) singled with one out in the ninth and moved to second on a two-out walk to Chandler Anderson (Utah). Feist (St. Martin’s) then grounded a 2-1 pitch into center field for his team-leading 24^th RBI.

Reliever Eli Morse (Portland) fanned the final two batters and retired the Pickles in order in the ninth for the win. Three Knights’ relievers combined to hold Portland to one run and two hits over the final 6.1 innings, enabling the Knights to rally from a 5-0 deficit.

The Knights (27-18-1, 24-16 WCL, 8-5 second half) thus won the final two games to take the series, their first-ever against the Pickles in Portland. They finished a six-game road trip at 3-3 and remained in second place in the second-half South Division pennant race, one-half game behind Portland, the first-half champion.

Corvallis erased the 5-0 deficit by scoring four times in the fifth and once in the seventh. Stevens, Anderson, Feist and Zak Taylor (Oregon State) had RBI singles in the fifth to draw within 5-4. Anderson then drilled a solo homer with two outs in the seventh to finally pull even.

Anderson was 4-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs and two RBIs and raised his team-leading average to .355. He has six multi-hit games in his last 11 starts, and is third in the WCL batting race.

Feist had three hits and two RBIs, Stevens had two hits and two runs, and Taylor added two hits and an RBI.

Morse retired all seven Pickles he faced over the final 2.1 innings and got the decision, improving to 3-0. Miles Glazier (UC Irvine) had a scoreless frame in his initial WCL appearance of the summer, and Louie Crow (Cal Poly-Pomona in 2018-19) allowed one run in 3.1 innings.

Portland rocked Corvallis starter Aaron Shoup (St. Martin’s) for two runs in the first inning and drove him from the game with two more in the third for a 4-0 lead. They added one more in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage before the Knights rallied.

Corvallis begins a four-game homestand on Tuesday with a 6:30 p.m. matchup with Kelowna. Newly-signed lefty Logan Petet, a rising freshman at Utah Valley University, will make his Knights debut as their starting pitcher.

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