Shaky start dooms Knights in 9-8 Game 1 setback to Sox.

Greg Mahle (pictured) went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs but the Knights couldn't overcome a terrible start in the WCL Championship Series opener.

The Knights scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to draw within 9-8, and they had the tying run on first with one out. However, he could get no further and they were unable to force extra innings.

Nothing went right for the Knights in the first three innings. Wenatchee parlayed four extra-base hits and three Corvallis errors into six runs to build an insurmountable lead.

Wenatchee's Mitchell Gunsolus led off the game with a homer. Ty Moore and Taylor Sparks followed with doubles for a 2-0 lead and an error led to another run as the AppleSox streaked to a 3-0 advantage.

Wenatchee added two more in the second, aided by another error, to knock starter Dylan Stuart out of the game. The Sox scored again in the third, helped by a third miscue, for a 6-1 lead and the Wenatchee bullpen just did manage to hold off the Knights from there.

The AppleSox now need one more win to claim the best-of-3 series and their fifth WCL title in the circuit's 8-year history. Corvallis must win the final two games to successfully defend its 2011 title and to earn its third championship overall.

Game 2 is 7:05 p.m. Friday at Paul Thomas Sr. Field in Wenatchee. Mahle, a left-hander from UC Santa Barbara, will start for the Knights, opposed by UCLA signee James Kaprielian, a righty from Tustin, Calif.

If the Knights win on Friday, a decisive Game 3 will follow at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, also in Wenatchee. The scheduled starters are righty Trevor Frank of UC Riverside for the Knights and lefty Derek Callahan of Gonzaga for the AppleSox.

Mahle knocked in one run in the first inning and another in the third, when the Knights pulled within 6-5 when three runs scored after left fielder Taylor Sparks dropped a two-out fly ball with the bases loaded. He also knocked in the first run of the ninth-inning comeback.

The teams traded runs and the Knights trailed 7-6 after five, but Wenatchee added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings for a 9-6 advantage.

Reliever Tony Bryant of OSU pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth and Tyler Kane of UW got the save, even though he gave up two runs in the ninth.

Nick Torres of Cal Poly had two singles and an RBI; Dane Lund singled, doubled and scored twice and Nate Blackham of WSU doubled and scored three times for the Knights.

The Knights have never won a Game 2 in the Championship Series after losing the opener. They were swept by Moses Lake in 2007 and by Wenatchee in 2009 after falling in Game 1.

Wednesday's crowd of 1,149 increased the final season total to 41,834, the second-highest in franchise history. The Knights averaged 1,267 fans for 33 openings.

Note: Pre-game, Knights' ace pitcher Trevor Frank of UC Riverside delivered a stirring rendition of the National Anthem. He was mobbed by his teammates following his extraordinary performance.