Black Bears even up series with 5-4 win over Knights.

Center fielder Kyle Nobach (pictured) had three hits, three steals and two runs but Corvallis fell 5-4 to Cowlitz on Saturday night in Game 2 of their South Division series.

A rising senior at Oregon State, Nobach stretched his hitting streak to four games, a span in which he's batting .529 (9-17). That hot streak has upped his average from .297 to .346 (28-81), which would lead the West Coast League if he had sufficient at-bats to be included in the statistical leaders.

The Knights (28-14 all, 21-14 WCL, 3-5 second half) led 4-3 after six innings but could not hold a late, one-run lead for the second time in their last three games. Cowlitz scored once in the seventh to tie and tallied the winner in the ninth.

Corvallis had a golden opportunity to tie or win in the home ninth after a leadoff single by Scott Ogrin (Cal Poly in 2017) and a throwing error on Nobach's bunt single put runners on the corners with no outs.

However, Emilio Alcantar (Lewis-Clark State) fouled off two bunt attempts and then struck out. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Michael Farris (UC Riverside) grounded into a 1-2-3 double play on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.

Cowlitz opened the game with five straight hits to take the early 3-0 lead. But the Knights battled back as reliever Jacob Fricke (Western Oregon) kept the Black Bears from adding on with five innings of effective relief.

Nobach singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the first to get the Knights on the board. Roman Garcia (San Diego) tripled and scored on Cameron Bishop's (UC Irvine) single in the second to trim the lead to 3-2.

Corvallis finally went ahead 4-3 with two runs in the fifth. Andy Atwood (OSU) drove in Ogrin with the tying run and Nobach scored on the back end of a double steal to send the Knights ahead 4-3.

Cowlitz got the tying run off Fricke in the seventh and the game stayed deadlocked until the decisive ninth. Fricke allowed just two hits in his 5.1-inning stint, but hit three batters and the final HBP subsequently scored the tying run.

Atwood added two hits, two steals and an RBI and Bishop singled twice and drove in a run. Atwood is sixth in the WCL batting race at .324 (34-105) and has three hits and two RBIs in the series.

The series finale is set for 5:05 p.m. Sunday. Incoming Northern Colorado junior Branden Cutsforth (1-1, 3.85) will start for the Knights, opposed by Portland sophomore Kevin Baker (2-2, 2.27) in a matchup of right-handers.

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.