Knights beat Richey's Market American Legion 9-3 before crowd of 593.

Ian Bridges (pictured) of Sonoma State went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Corvallis had to come from behind versus the Marketmen as Richey's opened the game by scoring two runs on four hard hit balls.

In front of 593 Corvallis baseball fans, the Knights rode a committee of arms to a 9-3 win over the local American Legion club - Richey's Market - as the Knights' had to battle back to beat a tough Richey's squad.

"I really thought the Richey's guys battled tough," Knights' head coach Brooke Knight said. "I was really proud of their effort. They did a great job and have a lot to be proud of."

Corvallis fans were treated to a competitive game and a coaching appearance by legendary Richey's head coach Dick McClain. Coach McClain worked the third base box for both teams.

The Marketmen struck early as centerfielder Jesse Boustead led off the game with a single up the middle off Knights' starter Michael Cusick of Western Oregon. Rightfielder Kellen Sparkes hit a one-out single of his own to right moving Boustead to third. Marketmen first baseman Nathan Williams followed suit with a RBI single to score Boustead. Leftfielder Cory England singled in the second run of the game on the first pitch he saw from Cusick.

Matt Aulerich of Richey's Market held the Knights scoreless until the fourth when leftfielder Kyle Stalker of Willamette scored on a groundout to second by Oklahoma State's Dean Green. Stalker had singled to left to open the inning.

In the fifth, George Fox's Matt Wyckoff drew a one-out walk, Travis Anderson of Feather River College singled to center (Anderson's first hit of the season) and Stalker walked to load the bases. Then Bridges put the Knights on top by doubling in Wyckoff and Anderson. Stalker scored on bases loaded walk to Green giving Corvallis a 4-2 lead.

Wyckoff once again walked with one out in the sixth before advancing to second on a balk. Wyckoff scampered to third on a passed ball before scoring on Bridges' second double of the game.

Corvallis put up three more runs in the seventh. Green reached on a Richey's Market error, after advancing to second on a ground out by Oregon State's John Wallace, Green scored from second on a single to left-center by Doug Cherry of Washington. Cherry moved to second when Riverside CC's Richie Jimenez was hit by a pitch. The two executed a double steal and came around to score on a single by Wyckoff.

The Knights' mustered its final run when Bridges singled for his fourth hit of the game and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bridges moved to third when pitcher Josh Osich of Oregon State came off the bench to pinch-hit and grounded out to first. Bridges then scored on a wild pitch.

"That was my second at-bat of the year," Osich said. "It was a really bad swing, but I moved the runner over. I did my team job right there, I did my team job."

In the ninth, Chris Brookey, a sophomore-to be at Southwestern College, entered the game. He struck out the first two hitters he faced. But walked Boustead and gave up a run-scoring triple to Aaron Corwin, the son of Knights' advisory board member Mike Corwin.

The game ended on that same play as third baseman Billy Clontz, a former Richey's star, pulled the hidden ball trick on Aaron tagging him out when he stepped off the third base bag.

Linn-Benton CC sophomore southpaw Liam Baron pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. With the victory, Baron improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.99.

Corvallis has two nights off before resuming play vs. its affiliate club - the Gresham Mountaineers - Thursday night at Goss Stadium at 6:35 pm.

You can catch Thursday's game on 990 AM The Legend. Mike Parker, the voice of the Knights, calls all the action.