BlueJackets top Knights 5-3 in WCL home debut.

Corvallis center fielder Blake Drake (pictured) singled, had two runs and two steals and an RBI on Wednesday but the Knights fell 5-3 to Kitsap in their West Coast League home opener at Goss Stadium.

A junior-to-be at Concordia, Drake's first run tied the game 2-2 in the last of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Seth Heck. His second, on another Heck sacrifice fly in the last of the ninth, drew the Knights within 5-3 but they could get no closer despite bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs following a double by Dane Lund.

A chilled crowd of 990 on Big League Chew Opening Night, presented by AmeriTitle, saw the Knights lose their second game in a row.

Tom Zarosinski had his second straight strong start and left after six innings with the score tied 2-2. He gave up a two-run homer to Francisco Torres, but allowed just two hits and had seven strikeouts.

A bloop double off reliever Chris Bishop to start the eighth ignited Kitsap�s winning three-run rally. The big hit was a two-run, bases-loaded single by Vince Sablan that sent Kitsap ahead 4-2.

The Knights (3-5 overall, 2-5 WCL) fell into last place in the South Division, one game behind the BlueJackets (3-4 WCL). Corvallis has lost the opening game of all three of its three league series.

The team is still waiting for several key full-time players to arrive after they finish finals at their respective colleges this week. So Lund, a member of the 2011 WCL championship and 2012 WCL runner-up teams, said there is no reason to panic.

"The first two weeks of summer ball are when you get to know each other, so we should be playing well soon," said Lund, the only other Knight with two hits. "We need to get some hits, and get some good plays for momentum."

The Knights also learned Wednesday night that slugging Cal Poly freshman DH/catcher Brian Mundell might not play this summer because of an elbow injury. He hit .265 in 55 games, with 11 homers and 42 RBIs this spring, and would be a significant loss.

The teams resume the series at 6:40 tonight on a Block 15 Thursday/$1 hot dog night. George Fox junior-to-be Sean Eberhardt (0-0, 0.00) is the scheduled starter for the Knights, opposed by Kitsap RHP Gary Steindorf (0-1, 3.37) of Western Oregon.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Friday. The Knights then conclude their first homestand against Cowlitz on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.