Knights tip Gems 6-4 before home crowd of 2,162, sweep series.

Second baseman Austin Hamilton's (pictured) RBI single in the bottom of the eighth snapped a 4-4 tie.

Hamilton's hit drove in Beau Fraser of Portland with the go-ahead run. Chris Bishop of PLU, one of three pitchers to play in the field for the short-handed Knights, added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly and Kyle Hart of Redlands pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

"It wasn't pretty but I was happy to see one fall," Hamilton, a sophomore-to-be at Linn-Benton CC, said of the decisive base hit, a soft single that evened the score for a line drive that was caught and turned into a double play in his previous at-bat.

"I'm happy to pull out a win for our club," which used Texas Tech pitcher Aaron Corwin at first, PLU pitcher Max Beatty as the DH and Bishop in right field because several regular position players had school commitments and couldn't make it to the game, which started at 11 a.m.

"Those pitchers were very happy to play in the field and hit," Hamilton said. �Aaron and Max were just drooling to get a chance at a base hit. They were just chomping at the bit."

A middle infielder at Corvallis High and in American Legion ball, Corwin singled to drive in the tying-run in the eighth. Beatty and Bishop also had base hits and contributed to a 10-hit attack.

Corvallis starter Rob Dittrick of Pacific gave up three runs in his first three innings but then held the Gems hitless and scoreless over his final four frames. Dittrick struck out three and allowed just six hits.

Shortstop Marc Gallegos of Corban had two hits, a steal and a sacrifice fly. Left fielder Caylen Clardy of College of the Siskiyous and center fielder Matt Nylen of Western Oregon had two hits each; Nylen also had an RBI.

A crowd of 2,162, buoyed by about 1,500 local elementary school students, attended PEAK Internet Science & Art Day.

The Knights open a three-game series at Wenatchee on Friday night. You can listen to all three games on KEJO 1240 AM. Kevin Burke, the voice of the Knights, calls all the action.