Foulon ends slump in Knights' 3-1 win over BlueJackets.

Second baseman Alex Foulon (pictured) had RBI singles in his first two at-bats to spark Corvallis before a festive crowd of 1,075 on Linn-Benton Tractor Cowbell Night.

Robbed of two hits by stellar defensive plays in a 6-0 loss to Bellingham on Wednesday night, Foulon dunked a single into right field off first baseman Francisco Tellez's mitt to plate Austin Barr for a 1-0 advantage in the third inning.

Barr's two-out single in the fourth drove in Greg Mahle of UC Santa Barbara with the second run. Foulon followed with another RBI single to chase home former Mt. Hood CC teammate Matt Nylen of Western Oregon with the Knights' final run.

They were the first RBIs of the summer for Foulon, who went 2-for-3 to raise his average 123 points to .214. He also snared Tyler Baumgartner's bases-loaded line drive to end the game.

"I have been struggling at the plate lately," said Foulon, a Vancouver, Wash., native bound for New Mexico State this fall. "I knew their pitcher because I'd seen him a couple times in the spring.

"I was seeing the ball well. Whenever you can help the team win, it's a good feeling."

Kitsap (6-21) starter Stuart Fewel plays at Lower Columbia College, a rival of Mt. Hood's in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges. The BlueJackets have lost 20 of 22 games since a 4-1 start.

The Knights (18-5 overall, 17-5 WCL) are 14-1 since being swept at Wenatchee earlier this month. Second-place Bend (9-12) lost to Cowlitz on Friday so the Knights extended their West Division lead to 7.5 games over the Elks.

Knights' starter Trevor Frank gave up an unearned run in 4.2 innings but did not get the win. On a pitch count, the UC Riverside senior-to-be was relieved after 64 pitches and fell one out short of the five-inning minimum for a starter to be credited with a victory.

Oregon State-bound Brandon Jackson followed Frank and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings for the decision. Antonio Gonzales of UC Riverside threw a perfect eighth and Devin Barker of Centralia College escaped a bases-loaded situation with two outs in the ninth for his first save.

A Camas, Wash. High graduate who has signed with Stanford, Barr doubled, singled, scored and had an RBI. Mahle had two hits and scored once.

Corvallis relievers have now combined for 19.1 consecutive scoreless innings. The series resumes at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Right-hander Bryan Granger (1-0, 0.75) of Cal Poly will go for the Knights, opposed by Kitsap lefty Kevin Baumgartner (0-1, 3.04) of Paradise Valley (Ariz.) CC.

Monday's 7:15 p.m. series finale is our annual OSU Federal Credit Union Fireworks Night.