Burkholder stymies Cowlitz, Knights win 9th in row.

Chris Burkholder (pictured) pitched six innings of scoreless relief on Friday night and Corvallis topped Cowlitz 9-2 in Game 1 of their West Coast League series.

Burkholder (Dartmouth) entered in the third inning with the Knights leading 7-2. He blanked the Black Bears on three hits until giving way to Trenton Dupre (Washington State) to start the ninth. He struck out seven, walked one, and evened his record at 2-2.

The Knights (40-19 overall, 33-19 WCL, 15-10 second half) extended their winning streak to nine games in row, their longest such streak of the summer. They turned four inning-ending double plays behind Burkholder, and added another in the ninth behind Dupre.

The six-inning stint was the longest of the summer for Burkholder, whose previous best was five innings against Victoria on July 23. He has allowed just two earned runs over 22 innings in his last six appearances, a 0.78 ERA.

Andrew Reichenbach (George Fox) had three hits and an RBI, Roman Garcia (San Diego) doubled, singled and drove in a run and Zak Taylor (Oregon State) had two hits and two runs for the Knights, who scored all nine runs in the first four innings. Reichenbach and Taylor each raised their average to .321.

The series continues at 6:35 p.m. Saturday. Cal Poly right-hander Craig Colen (0-1, 5.40) is the scheduled starter for the Knights. The teams conclude the regular season at 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

The divisional round of the playoffs begins on Tuesday, when Corvallis visits Yakima Valley in Game 1 of the best-of-3 playoff series. Game 2 will be at Corvallis on Wednesday, as will Game 3 on Thursday, if necessary.