Friday, July 26, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights may have discovered their right-handed closer.
Gabe Hernandez (CSUN, pictured above) turned in his fifth straight scoreless performance and went the final two innings to preserve a 5-3 victory over the Portland Pickles before 1,450 fans at Goss Stadium.
Corvallis (38-10 overall, 33-10 WCL, 11-5 second half) won its fourth game in a row and closed to within 1.5 games of first-place Ridgefield in the West Coast League’s South Division second-half playoff chase.
It also stayed two games ahead of Portland (31-12 all, 14-4 second half) in overall WCL wins. They determine home-field advantage in the divisional and championship rounds of the postseason.
Hernandez retired the Pickles in order in the eighth and got the first out of the ninth before a hit batter and an infield single put the tying runs on base. However, shortstop Ty Yukumoto (Pacific) speared a line drive for the second out and threw to second baseman Thomas Ferroggiaro (Santa Clara) to double up the lead runner to end the game.
A native of Barstow, Calif., who will be a sophomore next season, Hernanez also saved the July 24 home win over Ridgefield and has three overall. He has totaled 10 scoreless innings in his last five appearances, with seven strikeouts and only four hits allowed, lowering his ERA from 4.05 to 2.70.
The Knights broke a 3-3 tie in seventh. Quin Dufort (Portland) led off with single and pinch-runner Colter McAnelly (Utah) raced to third on a hit-and-run single by Kasen Khansarinia (UCLA).
McAnelly scored on a passed ball for a 4-3 lead. Catcher Luke Lavin (Stanford) then delivered an RBI single to plate Khansarinia with an important insurance run.
The Knights took a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a bases-loaded RBI single by Hustyn Wheeler (Oregon State) and a two-base throwing error by the Portland catcher that scored two runs.
Starter Tyner Horn (Nebraska) left with a 3-1 lead after five innings. He allowed two hits, struck out five and walked three. Portland parlayed control problems by the Corvallis bullpen to score single runs in the sixth and seventh to tie.
The series resumes at 6:35 p.m. July 27 with Lil’ King Bobblehead Night. The scheduled starting pitchers are James DeCremer (0-0, 3.95) of Oregon State for Corvallis and Kenny Ishikawa (2-1, 6.17) of Yokahama, Japan, for Portland.
It 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 then hosts the Walla Walla Sweets on July 29-31, and concludes the seven-game homestand with an Aug. 1 non-league encounter against the Cascade Collegiate League Showcase team.
Corvallis has clinched the first-half South Division championship and will advance to the West Coast League playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. The postseason starts on Aug. 10.