Fricke clicks in relief as Knights rally for 14-5 win.

Relievers Jacob Fricke (pictured) and Chris Burkholder combined for 6 2/3 shutout innings and Corvallis erased an early 5-0 deficit to pummel Kitsap 14-5 on Friday.

Fricke (Western Oregon) earned his first win of the summer with a stellar performance in his third appearance. He allowed two hits, struck out two and got nine outs on ground balls in 4.2 scoreless innings that lowered his ERA to 1.03.

"[I was] just throwing strikes, getting ahead of batters, just letting them get themselves out," said Fricke, a native of Glide. "Just let them hit it. If they get a couple of hits that is fine, I trust my defense.

"Whenever you get out of an inning, the guys are out here picking you up and getting you ready for the next inning."

The Knights (8-6 all, 7-6 WCL) have hit double figures in runs and hits in three of their last four games while climbing back over .500 in the WCL and into sole possession of second place in the South Division. They had 11 hits on Friday, all singles.

Burkholder (Dartmouth) replaced starter Chris Carns (Clark) in the second and gave up two hits in two scoreless innings. Fricke then relieved Burkholder with two on and one out in the fourth and immediately got an inning-ending double play.

He then kept the BlueJackets (6-7 WCL) off the board through the eighth. The Knights steadily pulled away with eight runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to improve to 3-1 in their ongoing six-game homestand.

Kyle Nobach (Oregon State), Michael Farris (UC Riverside), Roman Garcia (San Diego) and Cody Hawken (Portland) each drove in two runs. Farris and Garcia had two hits apiece and the Knights combined to steal nine bases in as many attempts. Nobach and Farris also scored three times.

Andy Atwood (OSU) extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single in the six-run third inning. He has hit safely in every game since joining the Knights on June 10, and has a team-leading seven RBIs over that span.

The series resumes at 7:15 p.m. Saturday on Samaritan Health Services Fireworks Night. Lefty Trenton Dupre (1-0, 0.00) will start for the Knights, opposed by Olympic College right-hander Jacob Price (0-0, 1.58).

The homestand concludes at 5:05 p.m. Sunday on Snap Fitness Father's Day. Snap Fitness members get a $2 general admission ticket by showing their membership card. It is also a Lil' Knights Club game; all club members will be admitted free of charge.

Friday's crowd of 1,257 raised the yearly attendance to 7,363 for five dates. That is 709 fans ahead of last year's record total of 49,656 through a corresponding number of openings.