Knights hold on to beat Bend 12-9 at Vince Genna. Corvallis sweeps Elks, clinches League's best record.

Dean Green (pictured) of Oklahoma State returned to action and went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. The Knights scored early and often to build a 10-2 lead. Corvallis banged out 17 hits and scored 12 runs for the second time in the series.

Bend, still fighting for their playoff lives, made a valiant comeback, but came up short as Knights' closer Taylor Starr of Oregon State pitched out of trouble in the ninth to earn his league leading 8th save.

Southpaw Josh Osich of Oregon State earned the win in relief. Osich pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth and struck out 3 over 1 1/3 innings pitched.

Seven Knights recorded multiple hits led by Green who missed the team's last 8 games due to illness. The left-handed hitting slugger from Tulsa, Oklahoma delivered a two-out RBI single in his first at bat to give Corvallis a 1-0 lead. Green also doubled in a run in the 6th.

Corvallis scored 5 runs in the second, all with two out. Doug Cherry of University of Washington, who went 3 for 6 on the night, knocked in a run with a bases loaded infield hit. Richie Jimenez of Riverside CC followed Cherry's RBI hit with a two-run single to left. Logan Lotti, a junior-to be at OSU, drove in the Knights' fifth run of the inning with an infield hit.

The Knights tallied two more runs in the fourth on a DJ Johnson RBI single and Alex Burg sacrifice fly. Johnson collected two hits on the evening.

Corvallis picked up three more in the fifth, two on a fielding error by Elks' shortstop David Bentrott of UW and the other on a double steal by Billy Clontz, a junior-to be at Western Oregon, and Lotti. Logan stole two bases in the 5th, second and home, and went 2 for 6 and scored 2 runs in the series finale.

The Knights scored their final two runs in the sixth as Bryant Kraus of University of Portland singled to left, stole second and scored on Green's double. Kraus, a recent Gresham call-up, went 2 for 3, scored two runs and stole two bases and went 4 for 10 for the series. After Matt Wyckoff of George Fox reached on an infield single, Jimenez executed a textbook hit & run, singling through the vacated second base position with Wyckoff on the move scoring Kraus and giving Corvallis a 12-5 advantage.

Wyckoff went 2 for 3 and is 4 for his last 6 at bats. Jimenez went 2 for 6 and collected 3 RBI.

Bend chipped away with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the 8th, but fell short as Starr made an excellent fielding play to rob Vaugh Prow of a hit and end the game.

With the win, Corvallis clinched home field advantage for the WCCBL playoffs. If the Knights reach the WCCBL Championship Series, they will play game two at Goss Stadium on Monday, August 18 and game three (if necessary) at Goss on Tuesday, August 19. Corvallis is 7 1/2 games ahead of East leading Wenatchee with six games remaining.

The Knights head to Wenatchee Monday for a three-game set with the AppleSox.

Corvallis' 27th win matches its WCCBL high as the Knights won 27 games in 2005 (27-9) and 27 last summer (27-15). With its next win, Corvallis can set a franchise record for WCCBL wins in a season.

14 batters were hit-by-pitch over the series (10 Knights, 4 Elks).

Bend made 7 errors during the series while Corvallis made one each game for a total of 3 errors.

You can catch the Knights road series at Wenatchee August 4-6 on 990 AM The Legend. Mike Paker, the voice of the Knights, calls all the action.