Elks Pitching Hands Away Opening Game to Corvallis

Tucker Grote struggled to gain support from his bullpen resulting in a loss for the Elks. (Andrew Green)

Corvallis, OR. - A season-high ten walks and five hit batters gave away the game for the Bend Elks, who fell 9-1 in the opening game against their rival Corvallis Knights.

The Knights took advantage of every free opportunity, manufacturing one run in the fourth and fifth innings before breaking things open with a five-run fifth that put the game out of reach.

The struggles continued to pile up for the Elks bullpen into the eighth, where Dann Blanchard handed out three passes and hit a batter that brought two more insurance runs across for the defending West Coast League Champions.

Ethan Krupp served as the lone bright spot for the Bend pitching staff. The Corvallis native allowed just one hit and retired six of the nine batters he faced in his homecoming performance.

Offensively, the Elks showed some impressive battles at the plate, working four of its five hits on the night against 2022 All-WCL honorable mention pitcher Neil Feist, who coming into the matchup, had only allowed four hits in his previous four appearances in 2023.

Nevertheless, Bend only managed to produce one run-off of a Zach Toglia sacrifice fly. Toglia was the only Elk that reached base multiple times.

Bend (6-6, 4-6) and Corvallis (8-3, 7-3) will square off in a doubleheader on Friday to decide the series. The first game starts at 1:05 p.m., with the series finale set to follow at 6:35 p.m. Both games can be viewed on the Knights YouTube channel or listened to on Bend Elks Mixlr.