Snodgrass, bullpen blank Gems 4-0 on 5-hit masterpiece.

Pitcher Jason Snodgrass (pictured) threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his first start of the summer and the bullpen took over from there and Corvallis Knights blanked Klamath Falls 4-0 on Thursday.

A late addition from Concordia University, Snodgrass arrived on June 24 and was 1-0, 5.00 in five relief appearances entering Thursday night. He blew a save against Medford on Monday in his last appearance but rebounded from that setback with an outstanding performance that lowered his ERA to 3.07.

Snodgrass allowed four hits, struck out one, and got nine of 17 outs on fly balls before being relieved with two on and two out in the sixth. Austin Sodders walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, then ended the threat with a strikeout and authored a 1-2-3 seventh.

Joey Wise took it from there to finish the Knights' second shutout of the season in an efficient two hours, 13 minutes. He was backed by an 8-6-5 defensive gem to end the eighth and a nifty 5-4-3 double play in the ninth.

"I was excited to finally get a start and help the team out," said Snodgrass, a starter during the school season. "I felt like I had all of my stuff. My changeup was working."

Corvallis (21-12 all, 19-11 WCL) remained in first place in the South Division of the West Coast League with its eighth win in its last 10 games. Klamath Falls (8-20) lost its fifth straight game.

The Knights went ahead 1-0 with two outs in the third when Grant Melker walked, stole second, and scored on Dalton Kelly's single. They doubled that lead in the fourth when Scott Quinlan smacked a one-out triple and came home on a passed ball.

A sacrifice fly by Kevin Farley in the sixth and an RBI single by Grant Melker in the seventh made it 4-0. Melker singled, walked twice, scored and drove in run from the leadoff spot to spark the offense.

The series resumes at 6:40 p.m. Friday. The starting pitcher for Corvallis is Portland righty Jackson Lockwood (5-1, 2.60), opposed by Fresno Pacific right-hander Tanner Irwin (2-1, 4.80).

Thursday's crowd of 1,340 upped the 2014 attendance to 26,112 in 21 openings. That�s 280 fewer than in 2013 through a corresponding number of home dates; the Knights drew a franchise-record 43,557 fans last summer.