Gorton's two-run single caps rally in Knights' win.

Catcher Ryan Gorton (pictured) drilled a two-out, game-winning single to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh as Corvallis erased an early deficit to beat Cowlitz 4-2.

Gorton smacked a 2-2 pitch from reliever Ryan Yuengel right up the middle to cap the four-run outburst. It was the only hit of the inning for the Knights (27-14, 25-14), who took advantage of five straight walks on a night when they had just four hits.

"I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit," Gorton said. "I fouled off a lot of his fastballs. Then stepped in the box and said, 'No way is this guy beating me.'"

He didn�t, and the first-place Knights picked up a game on second-place Bend (23-17) and the third-place Black Bears (20-20) in the West Division race with their 11th win their last 13 starts. They now lead the Elks by 2.5 games and Cowlitz by 5.5; the top two finishers advance to the playoffs.

The Knights trailed 2-0 with two outs in the home seventh when Matt Nylen, Cade Gotta and Trent Oleszczuk drew consecutive walks off Cowlitz starter Porter Clayton, who had issued just one free pass to that point.

Andy Lines relieved and walked Corey Moore and David Armendariz on eight pitches to force in the tying runs. Yuengel replaced Lines, and Gorton delivered to plate Oleszczuk and Moore with the go-ahead runs.

Knights' starter Dylan Stuart allowed two runs on six hits over six innings and left trailing 2-0 when Gotta's throw from right field gunned down a Cowlitz runner at the plate to end the top of the sixth.

Scott Schultz went a scoreless seventh and eighth and got his third win in four decisions when the Knights rallied. WCL All-Star closer Mark Trentacosta fanned two in a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.

Trentacosta has not allowed a run in his last 11 innings as a reliever. He�s one save away from tying the Knights� team record, set by Taylor Starr in 2008.

Gorton and first baseman Sean Myrom had two hits each for the Knights. No one else had a hit, but Moore and Oleszczuk each walked twice, including the back-to-back walks in the decisive seventh inning.

A performance by the ZOOperstars! drew 1,573, the third-largest crowd of the summer. It raised the Knights' season attendance to 24,991 for 20 dates, an average of 1,249 per appearance.

The series resumes at 6:35 p.m. Saturday at Dale Story Field in Longview, Wash. Right-hander Chris Johnson of Portland (3-0, 2.46) will risk his 11-inning scoreless streak as the Knights' projected starter.

The teams conclude the series at 5:05 p.m. Sunday, also in Longview. WCL all-star lefty Jace Fry (1-1, 1.69) is the Knights' probable. The Knights have never lost to the Black Bears, a 2010 expansion team, in seven games.

Corvallis is idle on Monday; eight Knights will play in Tuesday night's WCL All-Star Game at Goss Stadium. They open a six-game homestand against Klamath Falls and Bend against the Gems at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.