Knights snap losing streak with 5-4 win over Bells.

Designated hitter Gabe Clark (pictured) homered in the eighth inning and scored the winning run in the 10th on Tuesday in a 5-4 win over Bellingham.

A rising sophomore at Oregon State who saw limited playing time this spring, Clark blasted his first homer of the summer leading off the last of the eighth to give the Knights (14-12 all, 13-12 WCL) a 4-3 advantage. Bellingham (11-10 WCL) then tied the game in the top of the ninth to force extra innings.

Clark led off the 10th with a walk. He was balked to second. advanced to third on a groundout, and scored the game-winner when charging Bellingham second baseman Trent Chatterton momentarily bobbled a Grant Melker chopper and threw late to first for an error.

A Goss Stadium crowd of 1,002 watched the Knights successfully open their longest homestand of the season. They play 11 games in 12 days through July 13.

It was the first extra-inning victory for the Knights after three such losses. It also snapped a three-game losing streak and kept them tied with victorious Klamath Falls in third place in the South Division.

Clark had only 31 at-bats with the Beavers - just two in Pacific-12 Conference games - and could not join the Knights until OSU was eliminated from the College World Series, even though spring term was over and he was not on the Omaha travel roster. So he had not fasced live pitching for quite some time when he fanned three times on June 21 in his Knights' debut.

"When I first got here it was kind of weird, I was a little rusty because I hadn't played in a couple months," he said. "I started off real slow and then I sat down with (OSU assistant coach) Andy Jenkins, a program alum and a Knights' assistant coach in 2012.

"He really helped me out, he talked me through some things and now I'm just trying to put the ball in play. I can't wait to get more hits now."

His homer in the eighth left the yard just to the right of the taller fence in left field. It sent the Knights ahead 4-3, but Bellingham scored in the ninth on Johnny Farrington's second squeeze bunt of the night to force extra innings.

Corvallis took a 3-0 lead by scoring twice in the third and once in the fourth. Kevin Kline walked and Joe Duffin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the first two runs. Michael Lucarelli's sacrifice fly drove in the third run, and that was it until Clark's homer leading off the eighth.

Starter Chris Bishop allowed two runs and six hits in six innings and left with a 3-2 lead, but was not involved in the decision. Reliever Brandon Choate pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the victory.

The series resumes at 7:15 Wednesday on OSU Federal Credit Union Fireworks Night. Right-hander Casey Bloomquist of Cal Poly (2-0, 3.75) is the scheduled starter for Corvallis. The series concludes at 6:05 p.m. Thursday.