Van Gansen's bat, glove lead Knights over Wenatchee.

Shortstop Peter Van Gansen (pictured) had three hits, scored once, drove in a run and started two double plays on Monday to lead Corvallis to an 8-2 win over Wenatchee.

A Goss Stadium crowd of 1,003 saw the Knights (18-13 all, 15-13 WCL) capitalize on two Wenatchee (17-11 WCL) errors to score four times in the second inning. A two-run triple by Cody Lenahan capped a three-run seventh inning that made it 8-2 and enabled the Knights to withstand a three-run homer by Joe Mello in the ninth.

The three-game series matches last year's WCL Championship Series participants. The AppleSox won the title 2-1, and also won the June 5-7 series in Wenatchee by the same count, so a good start was crucial for the Knights, who maintained their hold on second place in the South Division.

"It was definitely a key win for us, especially since they are the leader of the other division," Van Gansen said. "It feels good to be up one on them in the series."

It was the third game with three or more hits for Van Gansen, a rising sophomore at Cal Poly who started 57 of 59 games this spring. He's been equally durable in Corvallis since joining the club on June 17; he was hit in the face by an errant throw in a July 2 win over Bellingham but did not miss any action.

"My face is feeling a lot better, it doesn't hurt at all,� he said. "It bruised a lot and I got some stitches," but now he's fully recovered.

Gabe Clark and Lenahan had two RBIs each for the Knights, who are 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the WCL since losing a series at Kitsap on June 28-30. They lead third-place Cowlitz by � game and drew within three games of first-place Bend, which was idle.

Knights' starter Jacob Schroeder went five innings and allowed two runs on six hits, with five strikeouts. Reliever Dylan Hecht added three scoreless innings and the Knights had enough to survive the three-run ninth and preserve Schroeder�s second win.

The series resumes at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday. Left-handers Trevor Lubking (1-3, 2.90) of Wenatchee and Elliot Surrey (1-1, 1.20) of Corvallis are the scheduled starters.