Knights stunned by walkoff homer in opener with Elks

Friday, July 8, Bend, Ore.  –  The Knights lost the first game of the second half of the West Coast League season, falling 6-3 to Bend at Vince Genna Stadium.

Bend’s Isiah Burke hit a three-run homer with one out in the last of the ninth to power the Elks to victory. He had four RBIs all told.

The Knights trailed 3-0 before breaking through for three runs in the seventh. Zander Darby (UCSB) led off with his second homer; Travis Dumitru (LBCC) later scored on the tail end of a double steal and Logan Johnstone (Gonzaga) drew Corvallis even with an RBI single.

Dumitru and Johnstone had two hits each for Corvallis. Reliever Nelson Keljo (Oregon State in 2023) pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.

The Knights (18-10 all, 18-9 WCL, 0-1 second half) clinched their 15^th consecutive postseason berth, and the No. 1 seed in the South Division playoffs, by earning the divisions first-half championship on July 7.

They will open the home portion of the playoffs with Game 2 of the best-of-3 opening-round series on Aug. 10.

The series resumes at 6:35 pm Saturday; UCSB righty Matt Ager (0-1, 5.06) will start for the Knights. The series finale is set for 5:05 pm Sunday; San Jose State lefty Ethan Ross (0-0-, 3.85) will make his 2022 starting debut for Corvallis.

The Knights are idle on Monday. They head to Edmonton on July 12-14 for their first-ever games against the first-year Riverhawks, visit Wenatchee on July 15-17, and conclude the 10-game road trip with a makeup game at Portland on July 18.

Their next home series following the road trip is July 19-21 against Cowlitz.

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