Knights clinch fifth straight West Division crown.

David Andriese (pictured) of Corvallis hit a three-run homer, his second HR in as many games, in an 11-0 win at Klamath Falls that clinched a fifth straight West Division title.

The Knights scored four times in the third and four more times in the fifth to give starting pitcher Kyle Hart a huge cushion to work with.

Their fourth win in a row and 10th in their last 11 starts gave the Knights (36-16, 34-16 WCL) an insurmountable six-game lead over Bend with four games remaining. Bend lost to Walla Walla 6-3 on Wednesday and would have been eliminated no matter how the Knights fared.

Corvallis has now won eight straight WCL series, are 20-4 in their last 24 games and have now defeated the Gems (16-31) six times in the past eight days. They have battered the Gems for 24 runs and 30 hits in the first two games of the series.

Hart extended the Knights' starting pitchers streak of scoreless innings to 23 in a row by going seven shutout innings to improve to 4-1. He struck out a season-high 10, allowed one hit and one walk, and threw 54 strikes in 79 pitches.

Reliever Nick Hoover finished up with two perfect innings. Drew Sandler�s clean fifth-inning single was the Gems' only hit.

Andriese, Corey Davis, Trent Oleszczuk, Jimmy Allen, Sean Myrom and Kramer Scott had two hits apiece. Allen and Myrom drove in two runs each.

The series concludes at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. WCL all-star Max Beatty (6-1, 2.70) of Pacific Lutheran will start for Corvallis, against Drew Staples (0-2, 6.44) of Pierce (Wash.) College.

The Knights next home game is a non-conference encounter against the Dukes of WCL Portland at 6:40 p.m. Friday. They play the Ports of WCL Portland at 6:40 p.m. Saturday.

Corvallis will travel to either Bend or Cowlitz on Aug. 12 for Game 1 of the West Division playoffs; games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be at Goss Stadium on Aug. 13-14. Bend leads Cowlitz by one game; the Elks have four games remaining, Cowlitz six.

Wenatchee will play at Bellingham or Walla Walla on Aug. 12 in Game 1 of the East Division playoffs. Games 2 and 3 will be played at Wenatchee on Aug. 13-14. Walla Walla leads Bellingham by one game; both teams have seven games to play.

The best-of-3 WCL Championship series starts Aug. 16 at the East Division team�s stadium. After a travel day, it resumes on Aug. 18 at the West team�s ballpark.