Armendariz leads Knights to win over Gems.

First baseman David Armendariz (pictured) made his parents first visit to Goss Stadium memorable, as he doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs to lead Corvallis to an 8-2 victory over Klamath.

The Knights (29-15, 27-15 WCL) battered Gems' (16-26) starter Drew Staples for four runs in the first inning and drove him from the game with four more runs in the third. Armendariz doubled in each inning and drove in one run in the first and two in the third.

David's parents, Saul and Susan Armendariz of Thousand Oaks, Calif., arrived in Corvallis on Tuesday in time for the WCL All-Star Game.

"I hadn't seen them for six weeks so it was great to have a big night and to get the win," said Armendariz, a sophomore-to-be at Cal Poly. "I really wanted to do well."

Armendariz has emerged as one of the Knights' offensive leaders in July. He has three doubles and six RBIs in his last five games, has raised his average to .280, and leads the team in hits (37) and RBIs (20).

He had ample complementary offensive support on Wednesday. Matt Nylen had a two-run, two-out single and Jimmy Allen an RBI single in the first. An RBI double by Trent Oleszczuk and Ryan Gorton's RBI single sandwiched Armendariz's big hit in the third. Oleszczuk doubled and singled twice.

Corvallis maintained its 2.5-game lead over second-place Bend and its 5.5-game edge over third-place Cowlitz in the West Division. The top two teams advance to the best-of-three divisional playoffs, which start on Aug. 12; Corvallis reduced its magic number to qualify for the playoffs to six.

Corvallis starter Chase Johnson pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second and did not return for the third. Four relievers finished up and Sebastian Santos, who went two perfect innings, was credited with his first victory.

The Gems had the bases loaded with one out in the second and with nobody out in the fourth but could not score. Turner Gill doubled and singled, Ryan Doepple singled twice and WCL hit-leader Rich Sanguinetti doubled and scored to lead their offense.

Gems' reliever Patrick O�Rourke allowed Gorton�s RBI hit in the third and then blanked the Knights on two hits over the final five innings, with two strikeouts.

The series resumes today with a 6:05 p.m. doubleheader; both games will be seven innings. Mitch Merten (1-0, 2.70) and Steve Schoonover (1-2, 2.21) will pitch for the Gems, opposed by Kyle Hart (3-1, 4.39) and Scott Schultz (3-2, 2.38).

A Cap Night game at 6:40 p.m. Friday concludes the series. The Knights then finish the homestand with Bend at 6:40 p.m. Saturday and at 12:35 p.m. Sunday.

Wednesday's crowd of 1,195 raised the team's total season attendance to 28,703 in 22 dates. The Knights could surpass the 2009 franchise attendance record of 31,536 on Friday night.