The Corvallis Knights thrilled a Science, Engineering & Art Day crowd of 3,409 with an 8-0 nonleague victory over the Portland Sea Dogs before a sellout gathering at Goss Stadium.
27 area elementary schools attended today’s game and enjoyed a day full of baseball, sunshine and 16 exhibits, which were stationed inside and outside Goss Stadium and included popular activities presented by OSU Colleges of Science and Engineering, the OSU College of Liberal Arts and OMSI.
During the game, third baseman Luke Wilkinson (NW Missouri State) doubled twice and drove in two runs and Tanner Cantwell (Treasure Valley CC) played a stellar first base and added two RBIs for the Knights, who took a break from West Coast League action with their annual tussle with the Sea Dogs, a team of former college and professional players, including former Aloha Knights/Corvallis Knights pitcher/assistant coach and Oregon State star pitcher Kevin Gunderson.
Left fielder Emilio Alcantar (Lewis-Clark State) tripled, doubled, scored once and drove in a run for Corvallis (4-0 overall, 3-0 WCL) to lead the offense. Second baseman Matt Kelly (Portland) doubled and scored twice; catcher Gavin Speegle (George Fox) doubled, scored and drove in a run and right fielder Andrew Barrera (Concordia) walked three times, scored twice and stole a base.
Starter Cole Johnson (Pacific Lutheran), who made his pitching debut for the Knights, and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout. Johnson allowed one hit and recorded three strikeouts in four innings. Trevor Wells of Linn-Benton (pictured), in his Knights debut, finished the game by tossing two innings while allowing only one hit and striking out two.
Dillon Larsen (Central Washington) pitched the fifth and sixth to get his second win of the season. He allowed one hit and struck out one. Dom Baker (Corban) hurled a scoreless seventh inning.
The old record attendance for a SEAs Day game was 3,381, in 2016.
The Knights begin a six-game road trip on Thursday with a 6:35 p.m. game at Bellingham, who the Knights defeated 2-1 in the 2016 WCL Championship Series. The series continues on Friday and Saturday.
Corvallis then heads to Bend for a Sunday-Tuesday series with the Elks, their longtime South Division rival.
Corvallis opens its home WCL schedule against the Port Angeles Lefties, the WCL’s newest franchise, at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, June 14. It will be 99.9 KRKT Opening Night; the first 500 fans will receive a mini WCL Championship Trophy.
General admission tickets for seniors on Wednesdays is $2. Wednesdays are also Spindrift Cellars Wine Nights. Fans can enjoy specially priced wine.
The Port Angeles series continues through June 16. The Knights then conclude their opening homestand by hosting Cowlitz on June 17-19.