Bloomquist tames HarbourCats 5-1 with stellar effort.

Casey Bloomquist (pictured) threw 8 2/3 shutout innings before allowing a run and the Knights won their fifth straight game on Saturday at Victoria.

A rising sophomore at Cal Poly, Bloomquist (4-0) struck out four, allowed six hits, issued no walks and kept the HarbourCats off the board until they scored on an infield single with two outs in the ninth. Colin Feldtman of Portland finished up.

The Knights (29-15 all, 25-15 WCL) maintained their 1-game advantage over Bend atop the South Division by winning their first game in history against the expansion HarbourCats. Corvallis leads third-place Cowlitz by 5 games; the top two finishers advance to the divisional playoffs.

The Knights took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Peter Van Gansen's two-out triple scored Grant Melker of San Diego. They doubled their lead in the eighth on a single by Chris Rabago, a wild pitch, a steal by Rabago and Blake Drake's two-out RBI bunt single.

Corvallis broke it open with three runs in the ninth on an RBI singles by Cody Lenahan and Rabago, and an outfield error on a single by Kevin Kline of Dixie State College.

Victoria lost a perfect game at Kitsap on Friday night and had been blanked for 28.2 consecutive innings before finally scoring with two outs in the ninth.

The series resumes at 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Righty Jacob Schroeder (2-0, 2.00), who has not pitched since July 15, is the projected starter for the Knights. The series concludes at 7:05 p.m. Monday.

The Knights then travel to Kelowna, B.C., for a Tuesday-Thursday series. Their next home game is a Saturday, Aug. 3, against Kelowna.