Knights hold on, top Kelowna 7-6 to take key road series.

Corvallis closer Harrison McGhee (pictured) earned a multi-inning save and extended his WCL scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings.

The right-hander from Ramona, California tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief while walking none and striking out 5 to close out the game and ensure the Knights' 7-6 victory.

Kelowna erased a 5-2 Corvallis lead in the fifth-inning when Falcons' slugger Justin Flores blasted a two-run homer to tie things. Flores blast, his 8th of the summer, broke a Kelowna single-season HR mark.

The Knights jumped ahead early for a second straight night taking a 1-0 first-inning lead on a RBI single by rising sophomore Christian Donahue of Oregon State.

After Kelowna responded with two runs off Corvallis starter Cameron Bishop of UC Irvine in the bottom of the first, the Knights re-took the lead with two runs in the top of the third.

Corvallis added on in the top of the fourth on Michael Farris' lead-off home run putting the Knights up 4-2. The blast was Michael's team-leading fourth homer in WCL play.

The Knights continued to put the pressure on in the top of the fifth as outfielder Jes Staples of Bellarmine led-off the frame with a walk, stole second and scored on Emilio Alcantar's RBI single.

Corvallis broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the sixth as frosh shortstop Clay Fisher of UC Santa Barbara doubled with one out and scored on a two-out RBI double by San Francisco catcher Ryan Matranga.

The Knights added a key insurance run in the 7th as Michael Farris of UC Riverside delivered a two-out RBI single scoring Alcantar who had led-off the inning with a double.

Alcantar, a junior-to-be at Lewis-Clark State, went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.

Four Knights collected two hits apiece as Fisher doubled twice, and future OSU Beaver Nick Madrigal, Farris and Matranga all went 2-for-4.

Corvallis stole six bases as Madrigal and Staples both swiped two bags, Madrigal's 33rd and 34th and Staples' 18th and 19th.

McGhee was the story though, as Harrison registered his team-leading 8th save as the redshirt junior-to-be at Concordia University in Northeast Portland struck out 5 over 2 1/3 innings pitched in a dominating performance.

Harrison has not allowed an earned run over 17.1 innings pitched this season.

McGhee entered the game, relieving Merrick Patito of Chaffey College, in the seventh-inning with two outs, the bases loaded and Corvallis up 7-6.

Pitcher Jorge Perez of Grand Canyon was credited with the win in relief.

With the victory, Corvallis earns its 30th league win and improves to 30-20 and 36-20 overall. And the Knights captured their 10th WCL series of the summer.

Corvallis gained a game on Victoria in the wild card race as the HarbourCats lost at home 8-5 to Yakima Valley. Victoria now trails the Knights by 3 games and Yakima Valley holds at 3.5 games behind Corvallis.

Kelowna clinched a East Division title last night with Yakima Valley's loss. If the Pippins win out and Falcons lose out, Yakima can't catch Kelowna.

The Bellingham Bells clinched the West tonight with their 6-3 win at Cowlitz. Bend won the South earlier in the week. The only spot that has yet to be determined is the wild card spot.

Corvallis can clinch a wild card playoff berth with one more win, or a loss by both Victoria and Yakima Valley. The Knights have four games remaining, while Victoria and Yakima have three each.

If Corvallis earned a wild card berth, they would likely play Bend, and game one of the best-of-three series would be at Goss Stadium on Tuesday, August 11th at 6:40 pm.

The Knights go for the sweep of Kelowna on Thursday night at Elks Stadium. First pitch is 6:35 pm. You can catch all the action on KEJO 1240 AM as Kyle Anderson of the Falcons calls the play-by-play.

Gary Steindorf of Western Oregon is tomorrow night's probable starter for Corvallis. Gary is 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA over 13 appearances, 1 start and 25.2 innings pitched in the WCL.

Corvallis is arguably the hottest team in the West Coast League as the Knights have won 28 out their last 34 overall games; and six straight in WCL action.