Nelson, Valencia team up to top Wenatchee 8-4.

Pitcher Cory Nelson (pictured) blanked host Wenatchee over his final six innings and the Knights rallied to win 8-4 on Saturday night to capture the series.

A senior-to-be at Pacific Lutheran, Nelson was touched for four two-out, unearned runs in the first after an error extended the inning. However, the lefty from Spanaway, Wash., settled down after that and enabled the Knights to mount their comeback.

Nelson struck out five, did not issue a walk, allowed just three hits over the next six innings, and retired the last seven batters he faced in order. He threw 66 strikes in 97 pitches.

Reliever Craig Colen, a freshman-to-be at Cal Poly, needed just 23 pitches to complete two perfect innings to close out the game. The Knights (5-4 all, 4-4 WCL) thus captured their first West Coast League series of the summer and evened their league record with their third win in a row.

The Knights tied the game with four runs in the third inning and then scored twice each in the fifth and sixth innings to pull away.They stole six bases and took advantage of two Wenatchee errors to score four times without RBIs.

Left fielder AJ Valencia (George Fox) had two hits and three RBIs to lead a 13-hit attack. Taylor Travess (Mt. Hood CC), Jes Staples (Bellarmine), Emilio Alcantar (Linn-Benton CC) and Andy Cosgrove (Washington) added two hits apiece.

The series concludes at 6:05 p.m. Sunday. Austin Kelly of Linn-Benton CC (0-0, 3.00) will pitch for the Knights; Wenatchee's starter is TBA.

Corvallis heads home after the game and will open a six-game homestand at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday against the Yakima Valley Pippins.