Walker handcuffs Pippins 2-1 in final game of season.

Ryan Walker (pictured) allowed one run and six hits over eight innings and Corvallis edged Yakima Valley 2-1 on Thursday in the opener of a key WCL series.

Making what may be his final appearance for the Knights, Walker struck out five, walked one, and surrendered just three hits over his final seven innings. A rising sophomore at Washington State, he is being shut down for the balance of the summer after logging 56 innings in 25 appearances for WSU and 34 more in 10 games with the Knights.

Walker threw 66 strikes in 100 pitches in his longest outing of the summer. He finished his tenure with the Knights at 3-2, with a 4.17 ERA, a save and 33 strikeouts in 32.2 innings.

Closer Harrison McGhee (Concordia) walked a batter and hit another to put the winning run on base with two outs in the ninth. However, he got the final out on a fly ball to right field to record his second save and extend his scoreless streak to seven innings in five appearances.

The Knights (24-15 all, 19-15 WCL) won their ninth straight WCL game. They stretched their overall winning streak to 10 games and improved to 16-1 in their last 17 games against all competition.

They also moved into first-place in the race for the WCL's wild-card playoff berth, one game ahead of the Pippins (18-16 WCL), who now have lost three games in a row.

Corvallis took a 1-0 lead in the first on a double by Nick Madrigal (Oregon State in 2015-16) and an error on a grounder by Christian Donahue (Oregon State). Yakima Valley pulled even in the bottom half, but the Knights went back in front 2-1 in the fourth inning on Clay Fisher's (UC Santa Barbara) RBI single, and neither team scored again.

The series resumes at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Righty Slater Lee (1-0, 2.14) of Cal Poly will start for the Knights, opposed by lefty Darrion Simons (2-3, 3.23) of Yakima Valley College.