Pope stymies Cowlitz, Knights take opener 6-1.

Lefty Aaron Pope (pictured) won his fourth consecutive game on Friday as Corvallis topped South Division foe Cowlitz 6-1 in Game 1 of their WCL series.

Pope (Dixie State) allowed three hits, struck out four and did not issue a walk in a stellar six-inning stint. He did not allow a hit after the third inning, threw 49 strikes in 67 pitches, retired the final 10 Black Bears he faced in order in an effective, efficient performance.

"All my pitches were working," Pope said. "I can pitch whatever I want whenever I want.

"I told coach I was done," after six innings, despite his low pitch count. "I didn't want to push it or anything."

Pope allowed just one run in each of his first two starts but lost twice when the Knights were shut out in both games. Since then he is 4-0 and has lowered his ERA from 3.05 to 2.08 in his last four appearances, three starts and one relief outing.

Pope has 20 strikeouts and just one walk in his last 25 innings. He took the team lead with 35 strikeouts as the Knights (28-13 all, 21-13 WCL, 3-4 second half) moved ahead of Cowlitz into fourth place in the second-half South Division pennant race.

Corvallis scored five times in the fifth inning to shatter a 0-0 tie. The big blow was Roman Garcia's (San Diego) two-out, two-run triple that doubled the lead to 4-0. Nick Kahle (Washington in 2017) followed with an RBI double for a 5-0 advantage.

Kahle also singled in the eighth and was the lone Knight with more than one hit. Shortstop Andy Atwood (Oregon State) had an RBI single and center fielder Kyle Nobach (OSU) added a sacrifice fly in the fifth; Nobach had an RBI single in the eighth.

Chris Burkholder (Dartmouth) allowed no hits and one unearned run over the final three innings to notch his first save. He had four strikeouts.

The series continues at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Cal Poly righty Craig Colen (0-0, 0.00) is the scheduled starter for the Sunday, opposed by UC Riverside righty Jacob Worrell (2-3, 2.40).

The finale is set for 5:05 p.m. Sunday. The Knights are idle on Monday, their first off day since June 26, and are off again on Tuesday for the WCL All-Star Game at Cowlitz.