Nate Nankil of Cal State Fullerton Leads Knights to 9-4 Win Over AppleSox

Friday, June 25, Corvallis, Ore. – The Knights sent 11 hitters to the plate and scored six runs in the second inning en route to a 9-4 victory over the Wenatchee AppleSox in the opener of a three-game series Friday night at Goss Stadium before 1,135 on a warm summer evening.

Corvallis improved to 12-4 with the win while Wenatchee dropped to 8-8. The Knights scored six runs in the second inning and added two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Right fielder Nate Nankil of Cal State Fullerton paced the Knights offensively, going 3-for-4 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He had a hit in each of his first three trips to the plate.

“At the beginning of the season I was kind of struggling but Tilly (David Tillotson) and skip (Brooke Knight) helped me get through that,” Nankil said. “They helped me have the mentality that I would get through it, and tonight I was trying to stay on top of the ball and work my swing and it worked out for me.”

Third baseman Spencer Scott, a future Portland Pilot, went 2-for-5, including a bases-clearing 3-run double in the six-run Knights second. Frosh outfielder Nick Vogt of UC Santa Barbara also had two hits and scored twice as the Knights outhit the AppleSox 12-8. Eight of the nine Corvallis starters had at least one hit in the contest.

Future Stanford Cardinal pitcher Ty Uber got the start for Corvallis and went 3.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Jackson Arnsdorf of Corban earned the win in relief, throwing 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball while allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out 3. The Knights knocked out Wenatchee starter Gavin Gorrell after recording just four outs, as the lefty took the loss allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and a walk.

The AppleSox took the lead in the first inning on a Luc Stuka sacrifice fly, but the Knights put the game away in the second inning, scoring six runs on four hits, one walk, one hit batter, and a Wenatchee error.

Wenatchee got within two runs after plating three runs in the fourth inning (to make it 6-4), but in the bottom of the fifth the Knights got a pair of runs back on RBI singles from Nankil and Riley Way of Lewis-Clark State. Corvallis made it a 9-4 game with a run in the sixth inning as Tanner Smith drew a lead-off walk and Vogt singled him home.

The Knights and AppleSox will meet for game two of the weekend series at 6:35 p.m. Saturday, with frosh Ben Kibbe of Utah slated to get the start for Corvallis.

To check out tonight’s box score, click here.