Santos, Lund fuel Knights' 16-4 rout of WCL Dukes.

Pitcher Sebastian Santos (pictured) extended the Knights' starting pitchers streak of scoreless innings to 32 1/3 with four shutout innings in a 16-4 nonleague win over the WCL Portland Dukes.

The sophomore-to-be at UC Irvine struck out three, allowed two hits, walked one and hit one. He did not pitch the required five innings for the victory, however. Mark Trentacosta went two scoreless innings and got the win as the most effective reliever.

Santos pitched just one inning in one game for the Anteaters this spring and had only thrown nine innings in seven appearances before Friday as he'd struggled with his control, averaging a walk per inning.

"It's been been tough, I haven't had a lot of innings," he said. "But I knew I had this start, so I was going to do the best I could."

Santos said pitching coach Connor Lambert has been trying to polish his mechanics and prevent his front side from opening too quickly, which makes it harder to control his pitches.

"I have improved on my fastball command," Santos said. "Tonight I was getting ahead early, and setting up off-speed pitches later in the count."

The Knights won their sixth game in a row, before 1,356 fans at Goss Stadium. It was their 12th win in their last 13 overall.

Catcher Dane Lund had four hits and three RBIs, Cade Gotta had a two-run homer and two singles and Matt Nylen and Corey Moore drove in two runs apiece for the Knights (38-16, 35-16 WCL). They had 17 hits and scored in double figures for the third time in their last four games.

Lund hit .375 (3-8) in his previous four games and improved that to .500 (7-14) over five by going 4-for-6.

"It feels good," he said. "I was seeing the ball well, finally. I've been on and off all summer."

The Knights scored three in the first and third and broke the game open with a seven-run sixth after the Dukes had pulled within 8-4 in the top half.

The Knights host the Ports of WCL Portland at 6:40 p.m. Saturday on the season's second $1,000 Dash for Cash Night, presented by Dr. Curtis Trammell. Kyle McNutt of Riverside CC (0-1, 3.29) is their projected starter.

Corvallis hosts Cowlitz on Monday (Hilton Garden Inn Fan Appreciation Night) and Tuesday (Wilson Motors Night, special fireworks show, 7:15 p.m. start) and then goes to Cowlitz on Wednesday to complete the WCL regular season.

It will travel to either Bend or Cowlitz on Aug. 12 for Game 1 of the West Division playoffs; Cowlitz leads Bend by 1/2 game after Friday's action. Games 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) will be at Goss Stadium on Aug. 13-14.