Duffin drives in winning run as Knights top Elks.

Joe Duffin's (pictured) eighth-inning sacrifice fly drove in the go-ahead run and Corvallis edged Bend 4-3 on Wednesday to win its eighth series in a row.

Marc Gallegos (Corban) led off the inning with a double to center. Tim Rausch (Western Oregon) sacrificed him to third and Duffin sent Gallegos home by drilling a line drive to medium-deep left field after fouling off two two-strike pitches.

"I was looking for something to hit in the air, and had to fight off some tough pitches" from reliever Louis Cohen, said Duffin, a second-year Knight from Cypress (Calif.) CC who will attend Connecticut next year.

"[Cohen] had a good slider," and opponents were batting just .160 against him before Wednesday. "But in the end I was able to prevail and help the Knights win."

Lefty Joey Wise (Grand Canyon) retired the Elks 1-2-3 in the ninth for his third save. He has not allowed a run in 12.2 innings in nine appearances.

The Knights (33-15 all, 29-15 WCL) stretched their South Division lead to three games over the second-place Elks (26-18) with 10 games remaining. The division champion earns an automatic playoff berth.

Corvallis has won eight consecutive series since losing 2 of 3 to Wenatchee on June 27-29 and is 18-5 in its last 23 games.

Corvallis starter Jason Snodgrass (Concordia) spaced six hits through four scoreless innings but Bend roughed him up for three runs in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. However, the Knights rallied with three of their own in their next two at-bats to pull even.

In the home fifth, shortstop Michael Lucarelli (Portland) blasted his third homer of the summer well over the left-field fence. In the sixth, catcher Logan Ice (Oregon State) picked up his first two RBIs with a single that scored Jackson Soto (West Albany HS/OSU in 2014-15) and Duffin, aboard on a walk and a double, respectively.

Austin Sodders (Riverside CC) pitched a scoreless seventh. Sean Eberhardt (George Fox) added a scoreless eighth to keep the game tied, setting the stage for the winning rally and a second-straight one-run win. Corvallis won Tuesday's series opener 8-7.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Thursday. Righty Chris Bishop (2-2, 4.01) of Pacific Lutheran is the projected starter for the Knights.

Wednesday's crowd of 1,348 raised the 2014 total to 33,651 in 27 openings. That's 1,056 less than in 2013 through a corresponding number of dates; the Knights drew a franchise record 43,557 fans last season.