Thursday, July 2, Corvallis, Ore. – Corvallis reliever Arlo Pendleton (Cal Poly) was dominant for three innings but Portland again held on in the ninth inning for a 2-1 victory at Goss Stadium.
Corvallis (16-14, 13-14 WCL) had the tying run on third with two outs in the ninth after Joey Marasco (George Fox) doubled and took third on an error. However, Pickles’ closer Luke Wallin got a strikeout to record the save.
The Pickles thus garnered the rubber game of the West Coast League South Division series. They sparkled defensively, turning three inning-ending double plays and throwing out another runner to close out another inning.
Pendleton (pictured, above) entered the game in the fifth inning and retired all nine Pickles he faced. He struck out six, and was named the Washington Park Advisors Player of the Game.
Portland scored twice in the second inning and protected the 2-0 lead until the eighth. A walk and consecutive singles by Maverek Russell (UCSB) and Ian Draper (Portland) drew Corvallis to within 2-1, but they left runners on second and third.
Corvallis loaded the bases in the second and fourth innings but could not break through. The Knights left 10 runners on base, six in scoring position.
Russell was 3-for-4 with a walk but no one else had more than one hit.
Matthew Sherwood (PLU) gave the Knights their third strong starting performance in a row. He allowed only one earned run and three hits over four innings, but left trailing 2-0 and was tagged with the loss.
Lefty Mac Zawistoski (Eastern Illinois) followed Pendleton and booked a scoreless final two innings, with two strikeouts.
The game concluded the WCL’s first half schedule. Ridgefield captured the South Division championship to clinch home-field advantage in the division round of the postseason playoffs.
The Knights host the Springfield Drifters on July 3-5. The series opener with the Drifters is the annual Oregon State Credit Union Fireworks Night, with a special 7:15 p.m. starting time. A limited number of tickets remain.
Corvallis’s projected starting pitchers for the series are incoming Stanford righty Bryce Hill (0-0, 7.71) on Fireworks Night; incoming Oregon State lefty Neal Burtis (0-0, 81.00) on July 4 and UCSB righty Josh Jannicelli (0-1, 5.68) on July 5.
Springfield’s probable for Fireworks Night is Rice righty Ethan Atchley (0-1, 10.32). It has not announced a projected starter for the 6:35 p.m. July 4 or 5:05 p.m. July 5 encounters.
The crowd of 1,235 raised the season total to 21,331 in 15 home dates. That’s an average of 1,422 per outing.