Knights 4

PIRATES 3

CORVALLIS, Ore. — After a recent strong run of play, the Moses Lake Pirates went on the road this past weekend for a pivotal three-game series against the Corvallis Knights.

When the two West Coast League (WCL) baseball teams began play on Thursday night both teams were in second place in their respective divisions; the Pirates in the East and the Knights in the West.

After Saturday’s 4-3 extra inning victory for Corvallis (23-14), the Knights’ sweep of the Pirates (20-22 overall, 16-20 WCL) puts them in a much better position for a potential playoff berth with two weeks to play.

Moses Lake now stands tied for second in the East but would lose out on the final playoff spot if the season ended yesterday based on a better winning percentage.

Wenatchee (21-13) leads the east by six games.

“The series went well even though we lost all three,” Moses Lake coach Steve Keller said. “The guys played okay and our pitchers just missed a few spots. We played solid defense for the most part.”

On Saturday Corvallis won with a run in the bottom of the 12th inning despite being out hit by Moses Lake 10-7 in a game featuring five errors between the two teams.

The Pirates built a 3-1 lead through the top of the fourth inning before the Knights began their comeback.

Austin Shackelford (University of Utah) had two hits as did Pirates teammates Nate Roberts (Seattle University), Josh Rapacz (George Fox University), and Bryan Karwacki (Big Bend CC).

Moses Lake was hurt by leaving 11 runners on base.

Kris Carlson (Wenatchee Valley College) took the loss with 1.1 innings pitched including the surrender of the winning run.

Pirates starter Leo Rosetti (Pomona College) went 7.2 innings and gave up no earned runs while allowing four hits and striking out three.

Friday night, the Knights were sparked by a five-run bottom of the third inning and cruised to a 6-0 win.

Seven different Pirates recorded one hit while Moses Lake starter Drew Martin (Moses Lake HS) went only three innings while giving up five earned runs.

Nathan Johnson (Whitworth University) and Carlson pitched five perfect innings to wrap up the Moses Lake pitching performance.

On Thursday, Moses Lake dropped the opener of the series, 4-1.

Overall the Pirates scored only four runs in three games after a recent run of strong offensive performances.

The Pirates begin the stretch of their final 12 games tomorrow against the Bellingham Bells with a 7:35 p.m. first pitch at Larson Field.

Moses Lake lost two of three in Bellingham earlier this season and will hope to at least even the score against the Bells in this three-game set.