Knights facing elimination after 12-1 loss to Elks.

Nick Madrigal (pictured) tripled and scored but Corvallis fell 12-1 to Bend on Tuesday at Goss Stadium in Game 1 of their WCL first-round playoff series.

The South Division champions, Bend (36-16) moved to within one win of a berth in the West Coast League Championship Series with its ninth victory over Corvallis in 10 games this summer. The Knights (38-23) are the wild-card entrant in the four-team playoffs, which also include defending-champion Bellingham and Kelowna.

Game 2 is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Wednesday at Vince Genna Stadium in Bend. Alex Nesbitt of Washington (3-2, 2.77) will start for Corvallis, opposed by Portland's Jordan Wilcox (3-2, 3.78) in a matchup of right-handers.

If the Elks win, they sweep the series and advance to the WCL Championship Series for the first time since 2010. If the Knights prevail, a decisive Game 3 will be played at 6:35 p.m. Thursday. Possible starters for a potential rubber game have not been announced.

The Championship Series starts Saturday at the lower-seeded team's venue. Sunday is a travel day; Game 2 would be Monday and Game 3, if necessary, would be played on Tuesday.

Bend rocked Corvallis starter Cory Nelson, effective in two regular-season appearances against the Elks, for 10 runs and 10 hits in 3.1 innings to build an insurmountable 10-1 lead. Two-out hits scored their first three runs; a seven-run fifth was fueled by two hit batsmen and a walk.

The Knights, on the other hand, failed to capitalize on their opportunities. They had runners on second and third with one out in the fourth and fifth innings, but could not score; they also left two runners on base in the second and third innings, and stranded 10 overall.

Tuesday night's crowd of 977 raised the season total to a franchise-record 49,443 in 33 dates. With one possible home game remaining, the Knights are 6,716 fans ahead of their 2014 total through a corresponding number of openings.