Tuesday, July 30, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights busted out of a two-game offensive slump with a vengeance in a 9-1 victory over Walla Walla that evened their South Division series at a game each.
Catcher Luke Lavin (Stanford, pictured above) doubled, singled, scored twice and drove in three runs to lead an 11-hit offensive barrage. He had only one RBI I his last seven appearances before this explosion, which earned him Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game honors.
The Knights (40-12 overall, 35-12 WCL, 13-7 second half) were shut out in their previous two games and had not scored in 19 innings when they erupted for a five-spot in the second to take what proved to be an insurmountable lead.
The first run scored on a throwing error. C.J. Colyer (Utah Valley) followed with an RBI single; Lavin then blasted an RBI double for a 3-0 advantage. The final two runs scored on groundouts.
Lavin added a two-run single in the third for a 7-0 advantage. A run-scoring balk made it 8-0 in the fourth and Kellen Segel (LBCC) jacked a pinch-hit homer off the left-field foul pole in the seventh to conclude the scoring for Corvallis.
Thomas Ferroggiaro (Santa Clara) had two hits, two stolen bases, a run and an RBI. Kasen Khansarinia (UCLA) was 2-for-4 with two runs.
Starter Kaden Segel (Portland) did not allow a run in 4.2 innings but was denied the win when he loaded the bases and couldn’t get the final out in the fifth. Reliever Sean Wiese (Arizona Christian) got the third out and added two scoreless innings to earn the victory.
Corvallis remained two games ahead of Portland (33-13) in the race for the best overall record and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The series concludes at 6:35 p.m. July 31. Cohen Gonez (1-0, 4.56) of Stanford is the Knights’ projected starting pitcher, opposed by Hunter Polley (1-3, 3.25) of Georgia Gwinnett College, respectively.
The Knights wrap up their seven-game homestand on Aug. 1 with a non-league encounter against the Cascade Collegiate League Showcase team.
The crowd of 1,346 raised the season attendance to 44,702 in 29 outings.
Corvallis claimed the first-half South Division championship and advanced to the West Coast League playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. The postseason starts on Aug. 10; Corvallis will have the home-field advantage in the best-of-3 divisional round.