Wednesday, July 1, Corvallis, Ore. – Corvallis got great pitching for the second night in a row but Portland’s was a touch better and the Pickles evened the series with a 2-1 win at Goss Stadium.
The Knights (16-13, 13-13 WCL) had the crowd of 1,142 on its feet in the ninth inning, when they advanced the tying run to second base with one out. However, two strikeouts sandwiched around a walk ended the game with the winning run left at first base.
The Knights were held hitless through 5.2 innings before an infield hit by Ryan Severns (UCSB). Their only other hit was Joey Marasco’s bloop single in the eighth inning.
Marasco scored on a three-base error on a fly ball to center field by incoming UCLA freshman Tate Hammond. The Knights had two chances to get Hammond home with the tying run, but couldn’t.
As mentioned, they also left the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth. They stranded six runners overall.
Starter Morgan Codron (Portland) allowed one earned run in four innings, with six strikeouts. Reliever Cooper Markham (Oregon, pictured above) made his 2026 debut and struck out five in two scoreless innings to earn Washington Park Advisors player of the Game.
Ari Silva (LMU), Nate Marshall ( Eastern Illinois) and Matthew Kosderka (Lower Columbia) finished p with three scoreless innings. They combined for six strikeouts; the Knights fanned 17 Pickles overall.
The series, and the Knights’ first half of the West Coast League pennant race, concludes at 6:35 p.m. on July 2. It pits Corvallis righty Matt Sherwood of PLU (1-2, 6.43) vs. Houston Christian righty Trent Barnes (0-0, 7.24) for the Pickles.
The Knights then 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.
The crowd of 1,141 raised the season total to 20,096 in 14 home dates. That’s an average of 1,435 per outing.