Saturday, July 3, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights thrilled a sellout Oregon State Credit Union Fireworks Night crowd by edging Ridgefield 4-3 in 10 innings before a Goss Stadium throng of 3,150.
Riley Way (Lewis-Clark State) led off the 10th with a double to left field and was balked to third. Two intentional walks loaded the bases and Way floated home with the winning run when Nate Nankil (Cal State Fullerton) was hit by a pitch.
The win gave the Knights (17-6 WCL, 18-7 overall) a sweep of the home portion of the South Division series with the Raptors (13-10). It concludes in Ridgefield at 3:05 p.m. Sunday in the final game of the season’s first half; Corvallis clinched the first-half division title, and a playoff berth, by topping the Raptors 5-2 in the series opener.
Incoming Stanford freshman Drew Dowd threw 1.2 scoreless innings in his Knights debut to garner the victory. He and Jake Vargas (Cal State Fullerton) combined to hold the Raptors hitless over the final five innings, enabling the Knights to eventually overcome a 3-2 deficit. Vargas struck out three in 3.1 scoreless frames and Dowd fanned one.
Kiko Romero (Arizona Central JC) drove in two runs to give the Knights an early 2-0 advantage but the Raptors scored twice in the fifth to pull ahead 3-2. Corvallis tied the game in the eighth when Travis Bazzana (Oregon State) raced home from second base on a bunt single by Tanner Smith (OSU).
Smith had three singles, an RBI, a walk and a run scored to lead the offense. Jake Harvey (Cal State Fullerton) tripled and singled and Bazzana had a double, a single and two runs scored.
OSU’s Brock Townsend (2-0, 4.15) will start for the Knights on Sunday, opposed by Washington’s Nate Weeldreyer (1-1, 6:30) in a matchup of Pacific-12 Conference righties.
Corvallis returns to Goss Stadium on Monday for a 6:35 p.m. nonleague game against the Cascade Collegiate All-Stars. The Knights then host longtime WCL rival Bellingham on Tuesday through Thursday.