Thursday, June 4, Walla Walla, Wash. –Down to their final out, the Knights rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to claim a dramatic 6-4 win over Walla Walla at Borleske Stadium in the finale of their West Coast League series.
Corvallis (5-2 all, 4-2 WCL) trailed 4-3 entering the ninth but a walk, a single and a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third with two outs. Chanz Flores (LBCC) then ripped a triple to the right-center gap to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs.
Carter Stewart (Portland) capped the comeback with a RBI single for a key insurance run and a 6-4 lead. Reliever Kellen Segel (LBCC) shut the Sweets down on five pitches in the ninth for his second save.
Corvallis thus avoided being swept in Walla Walla for the first time since 2019. It also snapped a two-game losing streak; the Sweets prevailed 5-3 and 8-3 in the first two games.
Shortstop Joey Marasco (George Fox, above left) was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs. Flores was 2-for-5 with the two decisive RBIs and a run. Stewart also knocked in two runs.
Reliever Luke Schoeffler (Linfield) earned the pitching decision by hurling scoreless seventh and eighth innings to keep the Knights close. He stranded runners at the corners in the seventh and another at first base in the eighth.
Stewart’s sacrifice fly put the Knights ahead 1-0 in the first. The Sweets tied it in the third on a triple and an infield single.
Walla Walla knocked out Knights starter Nick Saelens (Pacific) in the fourth inning by stringing three hits and two runs for a 3-1 advantage. Returnee Mac Zawistoski (Eastern Illinois) ended the rally with a strikeout in his first 2026 appearance.
It was 4-1 in the seventh when the Knights loaded the bases with two hit batters and a walk. Marasco then grounded a two-run single up the middle to draw Corvallis to within 4-3, setting the table for the ninth-inning heroics.
The Knights remained in Walla Walla overnight. They wrap up their season-opening nine-game road trip against the Portland Pickles at Walker Stadium on June 5-7. Game times are 7:15 p.m. on June 5-6 and 6:15 for the June 7 finale.
Corvallis’s WCL home opener is set for June 10 against the Marion Berries, starting at 6:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium.