Garcia homers, Knights drop series finale 3-1.

Roman Garcia (pictured) homered in the first inning but Corvallis mustered nothing past that point and fell 3-1 to Cowlitz on Sunday night in its regular-season finale.

Garcia's (San Diego) second homer of the summer gave the Knights a 1-0 lead. However, Cowlitz rallied for single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to salvage Game 3 of the series and snap the Knights' (41-20, 34-20 WCL, 16-11 second half) 10-game winning streak.

Andy Atwood (Oregon State), Taylor Travess (Mt. Hood), Michael Farris (UC Riverside) and Cody Hawken (Portland) had the other hits for Corvallis, all singles. Corvallis batters combined for 13 strikeouts and left six runners on base.

Pitcher Cody Hoff (Linn-Benton) allowed two runs and two hits in 4.2 innings and was the loser in his first start of the summer. He had four strikeouts but walked four and free passes directly led to both Cowlitz runs he allowed.

The South Division playoffs begin on Tuesday, when Corvallis visits Yakima Valley in Game 1 of the best-of-3 playoff series. UC Irvine lefty Cameron Bishop (1-3, 1.44) will start for the Knights.

Game 2 is set for 6:40 p.m. Wednesday at Corvallis. Game 3, if necessary, would be played at 6:40 p.m. Thursday. The WCL Championship series starts Aug. 13, against either Victoria or Bellingham.