Knights drop game one of WCL West Divisional Series 3-2 at Bend before Vince Genna crowd of 2,973.

Outfielder Michael Blake, a junior-to-be at Hawaii, went 3-for-4 for Corvallis.

Bend rode University of Washington senior-to-be pitchers Ben Guidos and Jacob Clem to a game one victory before a boisterous Vince Genna Stadium crowd of 2,973.

With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning, Clem replaced Guidos with two outs and runners at first and third base. The right-hander promptly struck out Thomas McCarthy of Feather River College to end the inning and tossed a scoreless ninth to earn the win.

Knights' starter Nick Hoover of UC Irvine pitched out of trouble in all five of his innings and left the game with a 2-1 lead.

Reliever John Pecoraro of San Diego State started the sixth inning and after getting the first two batters out he loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch, single and walk before escaping the inning by striking out first baseman Andy Hunter of Gonzaga who was 3-for-3 in his first three plate appearances.

Pecoraro, a junior-to-be, was unable to wiggle out of things in the seventh as again he retired the first two batters, then walked the next batter, and after a passed ball, the right-hander gave up a bloop RBI single to Steve Halcomb of Gonzaga tying the game.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Elks' Donald Collins of St. Mary's singled off Pecoraro to lead-off the frame. After a sac bunt put Collins in scoring position, second baseman Tommy Richards of Washington State continued to terrorize Knights' pitching as the junior-to-be delivered again, slicing a double down the rightfield line off Pecoraro, plating the game-winning run.

In June, Richards blasted a three-run homer off Pecoraro at Goss Stadium that drew the Elks to within a run in a game Corvallis won 4-3.

The last time the Knights visited Bend, Richards hit a walk-off bases loaded single to give the Elks a dramatic 1-0 10-inning win.

Both teams made excellent defensive plays.

Richards robbed the Knights of two hits and Elks' third baseman Evan Busby of Cal Poly also robbed Corvallis of two hits.

Guidos was masterful retiring the first 11 batters he faced before Dylan Jones of OSU singled to center. The southpaw scattered 9 hits and allowed only two runs while walking one and striking out 1.

Pecoraro pitched three innings and took the loss to drop to 1-4 on the summer.

Corvallis pitching never retired the Elks in order. Bend left 13 men on base while the Knights left 9 men on.

The Knights scored first in the fourth inning on a two-out passed ball scoring Jones.

Third baseman Jake Rodriguez, a frosh-to-be at OSU, delivered a sac fly in the fifth to put Corvallis up 2-1.

Bend is now 5-2 vs. Corvallis and is one win away from advancing to its first WCL Championship Series.

The Knights return home Wednesday with hopes of extending the series to a game three, which would be played at Goss Stadium on Thursday, August 12.

Wednesday's game will be an elimination game for Corvallis. First pitch is 6:35 pm.

It's a BI-MART 2 for 1 Night at Goss tomorrow. And hot dogs are only $1.

The ticket booth and gates open at 5:30 pm.