Horn helps Knights blow away Elks, 13-5

Friday, June 12, Bend, Ore.  – Stanford-bound shortstop Archer Horn homered, doubled and singled to lead the Knights to a 13-5 rout of Bend in the opener of their West Coast League series at Vince Genna Stadium.

A native of San Mateo, Calif., who played for St. Ignatius College Prep high school, Horn (pictured, above) drove in four runs, scored twice and also walked to help the Knights (9-4, 8-4 WCL) win their third game in a row. They moved into second place in the South Division, one-half game behind Ridgefield.

Cal Poly-bound center fielder Max Medina was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs and DH Josh Nati (Oregon State) was 2-for-6 with two runs and three RBIs in his season debut.

Left fielder Jackson Fera (LBCC) and first baseman Trey Swygart (Portland) were both 2-for-4 with an RBI. Swygart had two hits for the third game in a row and extended his hitting streak to five games; he’s hitting .500 (9-18) in that span.

Fera’s RBI double in the second inning sent the Knights ahead 1-0. Corvallis scored four times in the third, highlighted by Nati’s RBI single.

Nati added a two-run single in the fourth, capping a three-run rally that established an 8-0 advantage. A rising sophomore, Nati joined the team before the game at the conclusion of OSU’s spring term.

Bend scored four times in the home fourth to cut the lead in half. The teams traded runs in the fifth, the Knights scoring on Swygart’s two-out RBI single. Bend loaded the bases with one in and one out in the bottom half, but reliever Blake Sebastian (Nebraska) ended the threat with a strikeout and a flyout.

Horn tripled in a run and then scored on third baseman Tate Hammond’s (incoming UCLA) sacrifice fly to send the Knights up 11-5 in the sixth. Horn led off the eighth with a solo homer for a 12-5 lead. Horn doubled in the ninth, when the Knights tacked on their final run.

Sebastian pitched 2.2 innings of one-hit relief to stymie Bend’s comeback momentum. Luke Schoeffler (Linfield) closed it out with two more scoreless innings. Sebastian had three strikeouts, Schoeffler two.

Game 2 of the series is set for 6:35 p.m. on June 13 at Vince Genna Stadium. The June 14 finale is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

The Knights’ next home game is a June 15 rematch with the Marion Berries, starting at 6:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium. It’s the opener of a nine-game homestand that concludes on June 25.

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