Thursday, July 15, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights evened their nonleague series with Cowlitz by defeating the Black Bears 5-1 before a Strike Out Cancer Night crowd of 1,137 at Goss Stadium.
Winning pitcher Grant Taylor (pictured, above), a right-hander from Washington State, allowed one run and two hits over five innings, with nine strikeouts. He walked two and threw 57 strikes in 91 pitches.
“My first thought was to get ahead with the fastball, and work from there with my secondary stuff,” Taylor said. “I felt good with my slider and my curveball and used them a lot. ”
Taylor escaped a jam in the second with just one run and blanked Cowlitz from there. He also stranded runners at second and third in the fifth with a strikeout and an inning-ending fly out.
“That was a big thing for me,” he said. “Last week I was in a situation where the same thing happened and I got frustrated,” and allowed Bellingham to score four times. “I definitely realized it this game, so I stepped off the mound, took a deep breath, said “Next pitch” and attacked the next batter.”
Reliever Sam Stuhr (Oregon State) followed and fanned four in two innings. Relievers Nathan DeSchryver (Gonzaga) and Brett Gillis (Portland) each struck out the side in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
Corvallis pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts, with at least one in every inning, and struck out the side in three innings.
Nick Vogt (UC Santa Barbara) and Travis Bazzana (OSU) had two hits apiece for the Knights; Bazzana scored once and had an RBI. Kiko Romero (Central Arizona JC) had an RBI double and Taison Corio (Cal Poly) and Jake Hoskins (LBCC) added RBIs.
The victory gave the Knights (23-7 WCL, 5-1 second half, 28-9 overall) a split of the unusual midseason nonleague series. Cowlitz won 4-1 in Longview on Wednesday night.
The Knights host the Portland Pickles in a West Coast League series this weekend, starting at 6:35 p.m. Friday. San Jose State lefty Ethan Ross (1-1, 2.85) is the projected starter for the Knights, who swept a road series from the Pickles on June 22-24.