Knights drop series finale to Bellingham, 4-3.

Host Bellingham salvaged the finale of its West Coast League series with Corvallis on Thursday night with a 4-3, 12-inning win at Joe Martin Stadium.

Reliever Jacob Fricke (pictured) of Western Oregon threw three scoreless innings in relief of starter Jacob Wong (Grand Canyon) and handed off a 3-2 lead to closer Chase Kaplan (Western Nevada), who was 2-for-2 on save chances this season before Thursday.

However, an infield single and three wild pitches � the final two with two outs � enabled the Bells to tie the game and force extra innings.

Bellingham (2-4 WCL) then pushed across the winner in the 12th. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Knights (4-3 all, 3-3 WCL), who left runners in scoring position in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings. They stranded eight altogether.

Corvallis took a 1-0 lead in the first on a steal of home by Taylor Travess (Mt. Hood). Bellingham tied the game in the bottom half, but the Knights went back ahead in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Andrew Reichenbach (George Fox). Bellingham drew even again in the home fourth.

The Knights then went up 3-2 in the fifth on a single by Greg Saenz (Grand Canyon), a sacrifice, a fielder's choice and an RBI squeeze but single by Adam Taylor (Concordia). The Bells then tied the game for the third and final time in the ninth, the tying run scoring on a hotly disputed play at the plate.

Catcher Adley Rutschman (Sherwood High School), an Oregon State signee, had two hits for the Knights.

The Knights open a three-game series at Wenatchee at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Lefty Trenton Dupre of Washington State (0-0, 0.00) is their scheduled starter, opposed by Kyle Blankenship (0-0, 7.20) of Central Washington.

The series continues on Saturday and Sunday, concluding the Knights' nine-game road trip to start the season. Their WCL home opener is set for 6:40 p.m. Tuesday against Kelowna, the 2015 WCL runner-up.