Lenahan's single gives Knights walk-off win.
July 25, 2013Cody Lenahan's (pictured) RBI single with two outs in the 9th gave Corvallis a 5-4 comeback win over Medford, moving the Knights into a first-place tie in the South.
Lenahan's hit scored Grant Melker of San Diego and capped a two-run rally for the Knights (27-15 all, 23-15 WCL) off Medford reliever Jerad Casper, who played third base for the first eight innings. Corvallis trailed 4-3 entering the ninth but Gabe Clark - Casper's teammate at Oregon State - drove his first pitch well over the left-field fence to tie the game at 4-4.
Melker then walked and was sacrificed to second. After a strikeout and a hit batsman, Lenahan of University of Portland grounded Casper's first pitch up the middle; Melker scampered home with the winning run, ending a three-hour, 21-minute marathon that featured 41 baserunners.
"I was just looking for a fastball because (Casper) is a third baseman just coming in to throw" as hard as possible, Lenahan said. "I thought, 'Alright, he's going to throw me fastball and I'm just going to hit it.'
"I wasn't nervous. I was just looking for a good pitch. I got it and I hit it up the middle. Gabe Clark is the one who kept us in the game, That was awesome."
It was the second homer of the summer for Clark, who was hitting just .150 (3-20) in his last six WCL games. It easily cleared the taller left-field fence and seemed to give the Knights new life.
Corvallis, which topped the Rogues 6-1 on Wednesday, thus won the series and moved into a tie for first in the South Division when Bend lost 9-7 at Klamath Falls. The Knights also gained a game on third-place Cowlitz, which lost 8-4 to Walla Walla, and on the fourth-place Rogues. The top two finishers in each division advance to the postseason.
Four Corvallis pitchers never retired Medford (20-21) in order. But three Rogues were thrown out at home, Corvallis turned two double plays, Medford stranded 14 runners and left the bases loaded three times.
Blake Drake of Concordia and Peter Van Gansen of Cal Poly each tripled and scored; Lenahan drove in two runs and Melker added an RBI double for the Knights. Dane Lund reached safely in 4 of 5 at-bats and is 5-for-6 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch in nine plate appearances in the series for an .889 on-base percentage.
The series and home stand concludes at 6:40 p.m. Friday on Cap Night, presented by the Mario Pastega House. The first 1,000 fans receive a free Knights cap. Lefty Elliot Surrey of UC Irvine (3-1, 1.68) is the Knights' scheduled starter.