Kreuter doubles twice but Knights fall 5-3 to Cowlitz.

Cole Kreuter (pictured) doubled twice and drove in a run but Corvallis fell 5-3 to Cowlitz on Tuesday in the opener of their West Coast League series at Goss Stadium.

The rising sophomore at UC Irvine hit his first two-bagger in the second inning but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. He then drove in the Knights' second run in the eighth with a two-out double, his fifth of the summer and his sixth extra-base hit overall.

The Knights (24-18 all, 19-18 WCL) lost their third game in a row. However, they remained just one game behind Yakima Valley (20-17) in the race for the WCL's wild-card playoff berth, as the Pippins lost 4-3 to Bend.

Cowlitz took a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo homer by Slate Miller but the Knights drew even in the bottom half when Emilio Alcantar (Lewis-Clark State in 2015-16) scored while Josh Staples (Bellarmine) was being retired on the front end of a double steal.

The 1-1 deadlock remained until the seventh, when Cowlitz erupted for four runs. Corvallis scored once in the eighth and had the bases loaded after scoring again in the ninth on Staples� RBI single before a 5-4-3 DP ended the game.

Corvallis starter Cory Nelson (Pacific Lutheran) allowed a solo homer in the first inning and four hits overall in an effective six-inning performance. He struck out four and walked one; Nelson had been sidelined with pneumonia since July 4.

Second baseman Christian Donahue (Oregon State) doubled, singled twice and walked and Staples and Alcantar had two hits each for Corvallis. The Knights had 13 hits overall, but grounded into three rally-killing double plays and left nine runners on base.

The series resumes at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday on 106.3 KLOO-FM Timeless Rock Night, presented by Calapooia Brewing. General admission tickets are only $2 for ages 60+ on Senior Nights, every Wednesday.

Righty Dakody Clemmer (2-1, 3.34) of Central Arizona College is the projected starter for the Knights, opposed by righty Cal Neely (1-2, 1.58) of Linfield.

Tuesday's crowd of 1,366 increased the season attendance to 34,189 in 24 dates. The Knights are 4,347 fans ahead of their 2014 total through a corresponding number of openings.