Strong debut for Van Gansen in Knights' 8-7 loss.

Peter Van Gansen (pictured) smacked an RBI single in his first at-bat and flawlessly handled five chances in his Corvallis debut but Cowlitz salavaged the series finale with an 8-7 win at Goss Stadium.

A sophomore-to-be shortstop at Cal Poly who started 57 of 59 games as a freshman, Van Gansen finished 1-for-5 with an RBI and a steal. However, he grounded out to end the game with two runners on base and the Knights (7-6 overall, 6-6 WCL) couldn't extend a four-game winning streak.

A crowd of 635 was on hand for Monday night's game, which concluded a six-game homestand.

Van Gansen arrived in town on Monday after a long day of travel from California. Exams at Cal Poly ended this past Friday, and he hadn't played in a game since the Mustangs were eliminated from the NCAA's UCLA Regional on June 2. Van Gansen hit .253 and drove in 13 runs in 59 games overall this spring.

"I was really excited to play, especially because it took a while to get here," he said. "I had some butterflies but other than that I felt prepared and was really excited."

Pitching woes prevented the Knights from extending what had been a one-game lead over Cowlitz (6-6 WCL) in the race for third place in the Southern Division. Knights' hurlers walked six, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch; three of the batters who walked scored, and the eventual deciding run scored on the wild pitch.

Center fielder Blake Drake continued his hot hitting with a double, a single and two RBIs, giving him four doubles and four RBIs in the final two games of the series. Catcher Dane Lund had two hits, an RBI and a steal and second baseman Mike Lucarelli doubled, walked twice and scored.

The Knights finished the six-game homestand at 4-2, winning series from Kitsap and Cowlitz by identical 2-1 counts. Corvallis opens a three-game series at Medford on Tuesday against the expansion Rogues at Harry & David Field. There will be no radio coverage; live stats are available on the WCL website, wccbl.com.

They complete a stretch of 19 games in 20 games against Klamath Falls this Friday through Sunday at Goss Stadium.