Madrigal sparks decisive inning in 5-3 Knights' win.

Nick Madrigal (pictured) ignited the winning rally with a pinch-hit bunt single and Corvallis scored three times in the eighth to edge the Humboldt Crabs 5-3 on Tuesday night.

The Knights (9-14 all, 7-14 WCL) trailed 3-2 when Madrigal (Oregon State) led off the eighth by dropping a perfect bunt down the first-base line. He stole second, advanced to third on Cole Kreuter's (UC Irvine) infield single and scored by another single by Jes Staples (Bellarmine).

Staples eventually scored the go-ahead run on a two-out wild pitch and Ryan Matranga (San Francisco) singled home an insurance marker for a 5-3 advantage. Ryan Walker (Washington State) pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

The Knights played from behind much of the game after the Crabs (19-5) scored two unearned runs in the first inning. A towering two-run homer by Cameron Bishop (UC Irvine) tied the game 2-2 in the second before the Crabs went back ahead 3-2 in the sixth.

It was the first homer of the season for Bishop, a combination first baseman/DH/left-handed pitcher from Brea, Calif., hitting .117 (2-17) before Tuesday. He also had a strong outing at Medford this past Sunday in his first start as a pitcher, giving up just one run and three hits in four innings.

His homer doubled his season RBI total to four.

"I was looking for a fastball anywhere in the inside," Bishop said. "He gave it to me so I turned on it."

Bishop said a team meeting on Monday - when the Knights defeated a touring U-19 Australian all-star team 12-7 in a non-counting exhibition � helped the club get re-energized after a 2-10 stretch.

"The last couple of weeks it has been pretty dead in the dugout," he said. "We [said] we need to get the energy up. It is supposed to be fun, not dead, in the dugout."

Starter Alex Nesbitt (Washington) allowed two unearned runs and had five strikeouts in a quality five-inning start. Relievers Michael Martin (UC Irvine), Cole Doherty (Portland) and Walker allowed just one run and three hits over the final four innings.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday. Righty Austin Kelly of Linn-Benton CC (0-1, 7.56) is the projected starter for the Knights. Corvallis then plays its annual game against the Albany Mid-Valley Rockets American Legion team at 6:40 p.m. Thursday.

The Knights resume West Coast League action against Victoria at 7:15 p.m. Friday on Oregon State Credit Union Fireworks Night. The teams also play on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Tuesday's crowd of 1,449 increased the season total to 16,361 in 11 dates. That's an increase of 3,058 from a corresponding number of openings in 2014.