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Goodman's best effort of summer handcuffs Elks.

July 28, 2016

Goodman's best effort of summer handcuffs Elks.

Starter Grant Goodman of University of San Francisco (pictured) was masterful as Corvallis won the WCL series by edging Bend 3-1 in a rubber game Thursday night at Goss Stadium.

Goodman pitched six shutout innings, his longest outing in nine WCL appearances. He struck out eight, walked one, allowed four hits and lowered his ERA from 2.48 to 2.01.

He escaped unscathed from sticky situations in the second and third innings, and then retired 12 of the final 13 Elks he faced in order. He had five strikeouts in his last three innings of work and threw 63 strikes in 92 pitches.

"My fastball [worked] and I was just trying to be aggressive," Goodman said. "I wasn't trying to do to much with it. If they hit it, they hit it, if we lose that way we lose.

"I wasn't trying to pitch around guys. We have struggled after the all-star break, but it seems that we are on the right track heading towards playoffs."

Branden Cutsforth (Northern Colorado in 2017) earned his first save of the season by allowing one run over the final three innings, enabling the Knights (33-19 overall, 26-19 WCL, 8-10 second half) to split the season series with Bend at three games each.

Third baseman Michael Farris (UC Riverside), who drove in the winning run in Wednesday�s 5-4, 11-inning victory, slammed his first homer of the season and also singled. Scott Ogrin (Cal Poly in 2017) and Matt Kelly (Portland) had the Knights other RBIs and Nick Kahle (Washington in 2017) doubled and singled for Corvallis.

The Knights got a measure of revenge against Bend starter Kris Jackson, who pitched the first eight innings of a combined no-hitter against Corvallis at Bend back on June 4. Jackson gave up three runs on seven hits over seven innings.

The Knights head to Silverdale, Wash., on Friday for a weekend series with the Kitsap BlueJackets at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. Games start at 6:35 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Corvallis will throw a trio of lefties at the BlueJackets. UC Riverside�s Hazahel Quijada (2-0, 0.71) is Friday's projected starter; Western Oregon�s Jacob Fricke (3-0, 2.72) goes on Saturday and Central Arizona�s Ryley Widell (3-1, 2.62) goes on Sunday.

Corvallis is idle on Monday. It opens its final home series of the regular season on Tuesday when the new Gresham GreyWolves make their initial appearance at Goss Stadium. It is a Bi-Mart $2 Tuesday and a Jamba Juice Reading Club game; show your Bi-Mart card to get $2 peanuts, $2 Cracker Jack and $2 Pepsi products.