The Kelowna Falcons returned from a three-day West Coast League break with an 8-5 loss Tuesday to the hometown Corvallis Knights.
Corvallis scored seven runs in the opening two innings of the game before the Falcons clawed their way back to get within two runs but ultimately could not complete the comeback, falling to Corvallis in the first of five straight matchups.
.@trentbaseball2 and Jake Fischer each homer as a valiant come-from-behind effort falls short for the Falcons in an 8-5 loss to the @CorvKnights #BaseballLivesHere #WCL pic.twitter.com/PZQ4ACZ6rW
— Kelowna Falcons (@kelownafalcons) July 25, 2018
The Falcons (9-5) started the game on the right note and opened the scoring in the top half of the 1st inning off the strength of three singles that was capped off with a Taylor Wright RBI knock that put Kelowna up by a 1-0 score.
Corvallis had a big response in the bottom half of the frame as they collected four hits and brought in three runs to take the lead. Austin Feist began the scoring with an RBI single before Cody Hawken drove a ball to the right center field gap for a two-run double and a 3-1 lead after an inning of play.
The Knights added more run support in the 2nd inning, bringing seven batters to the plate and scoring four runs in an inning that saw three Falcons errors contribute to the big inning for Corvallis, which included another RBI single from Feist and a 7-1 lead after two innings.
Both starters in Andrew Alvarez and Logan Petet found their game after rocky starts, each throwing up no runs allowed through the next three innings before the 6th when Kelowna began to claw their way back.
Lucas Soper and Matt Land got on with walks before Falcons catcher Jake Fischer lifted his first home run of the summer to left field and the three-run jack got Kelowna back into the game at 7-4.
The Falcons second home run of the ballgame came in the 7th inning as the league leader in homers, Trent Tinglestad, laced a ball to right field for his 9th big fly of the season and cut the Knights lead to 7-5.
Alvarez finished off the 7th inning, retiring the side in order and finishing off his start on a strong note, setting down the last 8 Knights batters that he faced in his start.
Corvallis would add to their lead in the 8th inning and add some insurance into their advantage with an RBI double off the left field wall from Sam Olsson to extend the lead to 8-5.
Kolby Somers pitched the last 2.1 innings for the Knights to earn the save while Petet picked up the win in the game while Alvarez took the loss for Kelowna.
The Falcons (23-17/9-5) look to even the series in the second game of their three game set against the Corvallis Knights (24-16/9-5) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Goss Stadium. The game can be heard live on the Falcons Broadcast Network with the Voice of the Falcons, Trevor Miller.
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