Knights capture Fireworks Night marathon in 17th.

Michael Farris (pictured) singled in the winning run in the 17th inning on Saturday morning to give Corvallis a 4-3 victory over Victoria in the second-longest game in team history.

Victoria's first-ever game in Corvallis started at 7:15 p.m. before an overflow Fireworks Night crowd of 3,241, the second-largest gathering in team history. It ended five hours and 14 minutes later when Farris (UC Riverside) slammed his single through a drawn-in infield to plate Nick Madrigal (Oregon State) to end the marathon.

It was the second-longest game in team history, exceeded only by a 2-1, 20-inning loss at Kitsap in 2009. That game started on June 17, was suspended at 11 p.m. by local ordinance, and completed on July 18 in the Knights� next trip to Silverdale.

Madrigal opened the 17th with a single, stole second and moved to third on an error on a sacrifice bunt by Jes Staples (Bellarmine). Victoria then intentionally walked Emilio Alcantar (Linn-Benton CC) to load the bases in an attempt to duplicate the strategy that worked in a similar situation in the 15th inning.

This time, Farris delivered. Given a second chance when his first-pitch, foul popper to first base was dropped to extend his at-bat, he crushed a a full-count pitch through the left side, touching off a wild celebration by the Knights (8-14 WCL, 12-14 all) and the 1,500 or so fans who stayed till the end.

Staples appeared to have won the game in the last of the ninth. With runners on second and third and two outs, he dropped a bunt up the third-base line and looked to have beaten the throw to first, which would have scored Clay Fisher with the winning run.

However, he was called out and the game continued for eight more innings. Corvallis loaded the bases with no outs in the 15th but could not score; Victoria never advanced a runner to second base in the extra innings.

Branden Cutsforth (Treasure Valley CC) pitched the final four innings for the win. He, Chris Clements (UC Santa Barbara) and Michael Martin (UC Riverside) combined for nine hitless innings of relief. They retired 27 of the final 29 Victoria batters in order; Victoria had one hit in the final 14 innings.

Starter Slater Lee (Cal Poly) held the HarbourCats to five hits and three runs in eight innings, his longest outing of the summer. He struck out nine and allowed just one hit in his final five innings.

Corvallis started quickly, as Staples led off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Alcantar. Farris doubled, moved to third on a groundout and made it 2-0 on Ryan Matranga's (San Francisco) RBI single.

A three-run homer by Kevin Collard gave Victoria a 3-2 lead in the third. The Knights tied it in the fourth on a single by Michael McAdoo Jr. (UC Santa Barbara), a groundout and Madrigal's RBI single.

The series resumes at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Washington State�s Ryan Walker (1-2, 5.29) will start for Corvallis, opposed by Fresno State�s Dominic Topoozian (2-2, 1.50) in a battle of right-handers.

Friday�s crowd of 3,241 was the second-largest in Knights' history and increased the season total to 21,696 in 14 dates. The Knights are 4,698 fans ahead of 2014 in a corresponding number of openings.