Wise saves wild 5-4 comeback win for Knights.

Corvallis rallied for three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead and Joey Wise (pictured) pitched a scoreless ninth to save a 5-4 victory over Yakima on Thursday night.

The Knights (3-3 overall, 2-3 WCL) trailed 4-2 heading into the home eighth but they parlayed some errant fielding by the Pippins (2-3 WCL) into the comeback win. They thus halved the series heading into Friday's 6:40 p.m. finale at Goss Stadium.

Kevin Kline started the rally with a one-out walk. Joe Duffin then hit a fly ball to medium-deep center field that was dropped by Jake Roberts when he bumped into left fielder Tim Hergert. Kline scored and Duffin hustled his way to third base on the bobble.

Duffin then scored on Marc Gallegos' ground ball to second base to tie the score. Taylor Snyder threw high to the plate trying to retire Duffin and Gallegos took second when the ball got past catcher Mike Ramos.

Gallegos then scored all the way from second on a 3-1 groundout by Jackson Soto. The throw beat him to the plate and he originally was called out, but Ramos then dropped the ball and Gallegos reached a leg through Ramos' legs to touch home plate.

Wise struck out the first two Pippins in the ninth, allowed a bloop single, then ended the game with on a fly ball to center for his first save. He has not allowed a run in two innings in two appearances.

"It felt good," said Wise, a rising sophomore left-hander from Grand Canyon University who was drafted by Cleveland in the 33rd round in 2013 following his senior year at Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek, Ariz. "I wasn't trying too hard, and I threw strikes.

"My two-seam fastball felt good. I didn't think too much; I always have confidence on the mound."

The three-run rally concluded a comeback from a 4-1 deficit. Corvallis took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI groundout by Grant Melker, but the Pippins scored four times in the sixth off a tiring starter Harrison McGhee to surge ahead 4-1.

The Knights got one run back in the home half on Kline's double and an RBI single by Gallegos. That set the stage for the eighth-inning fireworks, which enabled the Knights to snap a two-game losing streak.

McGhee allowed one hit through 5.2 innings but left the game after Snyder's bases-loaded double to deep center drove in three runs. Snyder subsequently scored on a wild pitch by reliever Jackson Lockwood for a 4-1 lead, but Lockwood got the third out and added two scoreless innings to get the victory.

Gallegos had two RBIs, Kline doubled and scored twice and Chris Shaw doubled, singled and was hit by a pitch to reach safely in three of his four at-bats to lead the Knights.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Thursday. Northwest Conference all-star Derrick Mahlum of Pacific Lutheran (1-0, 3.00) is the projected starter for the Knights, opposed by Collin Nord of Yakima Valley College (0-0, 0.00).

Thursday's crowd of 667 increased the season total to 4,273 in three home dates. That's 194 more than in 2013 through a corresponding number of openings.