Taylor's three hits power Knights over Wenatchee.

First baseman Zak Taylor (pictured) of OSU had three hits and scored once to lead Corvallis to a 3-2 victory over the AppleSox at Goss Stadium.

A rising sophomore at Oregon State, Taylor singled and scored the Knights' (22-9 overall, 16-9 WCL) first run in the fifth inning, when they tallied two runs to break a scoreless tie. He has four hits in his last two games, raising his average 52 points to .342.

"I was looking for fastball up, and something I could drive," Taylor said. "I had some pretty good hitter's counts and just took what they gave me."

OSU teammate Kyle Nobach singled, tripled, scored once and had an RBI and Emilio Alcantar (Lewis-Clark State) drove in two runs for Corvallis. The Knights are 11-3 in their last 14 WCL games, a hot streak that garnered the first-half South Division championship and a postseason playoff berth.

Dixie State southpaw Aaron Pope won his third straight decision and improved to 3-2 with six solid innings. He struck out six of the first eight batters he faced, retired the first 11 AppleSox in order and set season-highs in strikeouts (10) and innings (6).

He is 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA in two appearances against Wenatchee, with 16 strikeouts and only four hits allowed in 11 innings.

Chris Burkholder (Dartmouth) allowed one run in two innings. Chase Kaplan (Kansas in 2016-17) booked a perfect ninth inning for his league-leading sixth save.

The Knights complete the first half of their WCL schedule by hosting Wenatchee in a 6:05 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday. Both games are seven innings; San Francisco righty Grant Goodman (0-0, 1.22) and future Northern Colorado righty Branden Cutsforth (0-0, 4.76) are the scheduled starters for Corvallis.