Knights claim 4-2 thriller, oust Gems; face Cowlitz next.

Dylan Stuart (pictured) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in his first relief appearance of the summer for the win as the Knights eliminated the Gems from the playoffs.

The junior-to-be at UC Riverside struck out three and allowed only one hit. He ended the game with a flourish by retiring slugger Josh Wong, the WCL's third-leading hitter (.371), on a fielder's choice grounder to shortstop.

Wong had seven homers, represented the tying run and was 4-for-4 at that point, with two RBIs that boosted his season total to 46, second-best in the WCL. But he slapped Stuart's first pitch to shortstop Nate Roberts, who caught it cleanly and flipped to second baseman Marc Gallegos for the force that kept the Gems out of the postseason.

Ironically, Corvallis eliminated Cowlitz from the playoffs in 2011 with a victory in Longview on the final night of the season.

The Knights (32-22 WCL, 37-22 overall) now play Cowlitz (26-28 WCL) in Longview, Wash., at 6:35 p.m. Saturday in Game 1 of the West Division playoffs. Game 2 is set for 6:05 p.m. Sunday at Goss Stadium; Game 3 (if necessary) will be at 6:40 p.m. Monday.

Cowlitz blanked Bend 5-0 on Thursday to tie the Gems (26-28) for second place. The Black Bears advanced to the playoffs for the first time in their three-year history because they won the regular-season head-to-head over Klamath Falls.

Corvallis broke a 2-2 deadlock in the eighth. Connor Hofmann reached third on an error, a sacrifice and a wild pitch, and then scored the go-ahead run on Nate Blackham's single. Blackham was thrown out trying to steal, but Greg Mahle singled and Nick Torres doubled him home for a valuable insurance run.

The Knights' first two runs came in the second inning on consecutive doubles by Torres and Gallegos and an RBI single by Roberts, who was 3-for-4.

Stuart and reliever Kyle Hart combined to allow just one run over the final 6.1 innings to give the offense time to regroup and finally break through.

Hart replaced starter Carlos Rodriguez with one run in, the bases loaded and two outs in the third, and ended the threat on a three-pitch strikeout. The senior-to-be at Redlands then pitched effectively into the seventh, with three strikeouts and one run allowed on four hits.

Thursday's performance extended Hart's legacy of excellence at Kiger Stadium. He had 10 strikeouts in a seven-inning one-hitter there in 2011, and was 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13 innings in three games overall in 2011 and 2012.

The West Division playoff victor will play either East Division champ Wenatchee or runner-up Bellingham in the WCL Championship Series, which starts Aug. 15 in the West. Aug. 16 is a travel day; Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) are Aug. 17 and 18 in the East. All the playoff series are best-of-3.