Knights near title; Nesbitt saves 6-3 win over Bend.

Reliever Alex Nesbitt (pictured) went four scoreless innings to earn his first save and Corvallis drew closer to another division title with a series victory over the Elks.

The Knights (37-17 all, 33-17 WCL) lead the second-place Elks by three games in the South Division, with four games remaining. Any Corvallis win, or Bend (30-20 WCL) loss clinches a seventh-straight regular-season division title for the Knights.

A rising sophomore-to-be at Washington, Nesbitt struck out three and retired the first nine batters he faced to preserve the win for starter Chris Bishop of Pacific Lutheran.

"The team had a great game, we kept hitting like we have been," Nesbitt said. "Bish (Bishop) gave us a good start, and it was great for me to come in" and finish up.

"I've started the past couple games, so my velocity has been up. It was great to be able to go longer into the game. It felt good to get a win."

Shortstop Peter Van Gansen of Cal Poly continued his torrid hitting by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run. Center fielder Blake Drake was 3-for-4 with three runs and two steals for the Knights, who have won five games in a row since losing two straight at Kelowna on July 31 and Aug. 1.

Van Gansen singled in Drake in each of his first three at-bats, giving him seven consecutive hits over the past two games. Third baseman Cody Lenahan of Portland followed Van Gansen's fifth-inning go-ahead RBI single with a sacrifice fly for a 5-3 lead; it was his 10th RBI in his last five games.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday at Goss Stadium. The scheduled starters are lefty Elliot Surrey (4-1, 1.26) for Corvallis and righty Eric Melbostad (3-0, 4.62) for Bend.

The crowd of 1,168 raised the team's season total to 37,581 in 29 openings, the third-highest in the franchise's seven-year history in Corvallis. The all-time record is 42,447, set in 2011.