Choate gets save, Corvallis rallies for 9-8 win vs. Gems.

Reliever Brandon Choate (pictured) stranded the tying run by getting the final two outs on Sunday night as the Knights edged Klamath Falls 9-8 at Goss Stadium to win their fourth straight series.

A junior-to-be at Washington who pitched for Knights' (11-8 overall, 10-8 WCL) pitching coach Connor Lambert at Tacoma Community College, Choate entered with a runner on first and one out after the Gems (9-6 WCL) had scored twice in the ninth to draw within 9-8.

He fanned Tyson Dahl for the second out, then retired Nick Fisher on a fly ball to left field after falling behind 3-0 for his first save of the summer. Choate has pitched 8.1 consecutive scoreless innings and his ERA dipped to 0.93 in 9.2 innings.

"I did a lot of closing at Tacoma so I'm pretty used to the role," said Choate, who had five saves in 15 appearances for the Tigers. "My first experience closing for the Knights was pretty rough; I ended up getting the loss on a walk-off squeeze" in a 14-inning opener at Wenatchee. "It will come along, and I'll continue to improve."

The Knights trailed 4-0 after one-half inning as the Gems (9-6 WCL) rocked starter Devon Barker. However, the Knights scored once in the first and then surged ahead 6-4 with a five-spot in the second.

Barker allowed two more runs in the third and was relieved by Sean Eberhardt, who restored order with 3.2 scoreless innings to earn the win. Alex Nesbitt got the final out of the seventh to strand two runners, and went a scoreless eighth before running into trouble in the ninth.

The Knights went ahead 7-6 in the fifth on an RBI single by Gus Craig. They added another run in the sixth and one more in the seventh on an RBI single by Sean Heck.

Sunday was the second win in a row for the Knights after dropping Friday night's series opener 3-2 in 12 innings. Corvallis has now won four straight series 2-1, and moved to within one-half game of the Gems in the race for second place in the WCL's South Division.

Heck doubled, singled twice, scored twice and added an RBI for the Knights. Dane Lund doubled, singled, scored twice and had an RBI; Gabe Clark singled twice and scored two runs and Kevin Kline singled twice and drove in a run.

The Knights are idle Monday. They open a six-game road trip with a three-game series at Bend on Tuesday. Three more games at Kitsap conclude the trip; their next home game is July 2 against Bellingham.