BEND – Corvallis native and Crescent Valley High School graduate Briley Knight (pictured, above) had three hits and three RBIs for the Knights in an 11-4 victory over Bend at Vince Genna Stadium.
The Knights (12-7-1, 11-5 WCL) are now 9-1 in their last 10 West Coast League games and have won four consecutive series. They edged the Elks (4-16 WCL) 1-0 in Friday night’s opener.
Bound for the University of Utah this fall, Knight had an RBI double in a four-run second inning. He added a two-run single in the sixth to send Corvallis ahead 6-1 and then scored as part of a five-run sixth that broke the game open.
Chad Stevens (Portland) smacked a two-run single to spark a four-run second inning. Cole Hamilton (Linn-Benton) and Beau Philip (Oregon State in 2018-19) doubled, singled, scored once and drove in one and Trace Tammaro (Portland in 2018-19) scored three times and also had an RBI.
Relievers Connor Redmond (Cal Poly), Eli Morse (Portland), Jacob Palisch (Stanford) and Brendan Beck (Stanford) combined on five scoreless innings to close the game out after the Elks had closed with 6-4. They struck out four and allowed three hits.
The Knights thus remained in first place in the South Division, one game ahead of Portland and 1.5 games in front of Walla Walla.
The Knights go for the sweep at 5:05 p.m. Sunday. Landen Bourassa (2-0, 0.00) of San Francisco will start for Corvallis; no probable has been announced for the Elks.
Corvallis returns to Goss Stadium on Tuesday for an eight-game homestand, starting with a three-game series with the Portland Pickles, the WCL’s newest team.