Victor Cerny’s Walkoff Double in the Bottom of the Ninth Leads Pippins past Knights

After a back and forth game all night, Victor Cerny played the hero with a walkoff double in the bottom of the ninth, sending the Pippins to their second straight series win.

For the second straight game, the Pippins got off to a hot start in the first inning, jumping on Corvallis starter Cameron Haskell. Elijah Greene and Cody Jefferis lead off the inning with back to back base hits. With the base hit, Greene extended his hitting streak to 10 games. After a groundout, Kyle Dean gave the Pippins the lead with a single. Cole Pofek and Cam Campbell also checked in with RBI singles later in the inning to stake Chase Farrell to a 3-0 lead.

Farrell would cruise through the first two innings, retiring the side in order and racking up three strikeouts. He ran into some trouble in the third with a bases loaded two out situation but was able to induce a fly ball to get out of the jam.

Haskell settled down after the first, allowing just four base runners from the second through the fifth.

In the sixth, the Knights would get to Farrell. After a single and two errors on a pickoff attempt, Chandler Anderson was able to put the Knights on the board with a base hit, scoring Chad Stevens from third. Two batters later, Austin Feist would unload on a 0-1 pitch, lining it over the left center field wall for a two run home run and knotting the score at three. Two of the next three batters would reach, forcing Farrell out of the game. Jack Gonzales came in with two outs and yielded an RBI double from Sam Olsson which put the Knights ahead for the first time.

In the bottom half, the Pippins answered right back with two runs of their own to retake the lead. In the seventh, Cerny would add an insurance run with an RBI single.

With Tanner Inouye out of the pen, the Knights would rally for the second time with Olsson providing the big blow with a two run single to pull Corvallis even, 6-6.

The Pippins had a bases loaded, one out opportunity in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn't capitalize. A 1-2-3 top of the ninth from Inouye set up the ninth inning heroics.

Chris Arpan lead off with a walk and Bryce Wooldridge would come in to pinch run. Wooldridge would be bunted to second base to bring Cerny to the plate who already had two hits and an RBI. On a 1-0 pitch, Cerny hit a line drive over the center fielder's head, prompting the Pippins to explode out of the dugout in jubilation and meet him at second base.

"I was just looking for a fastball over the plate, something that I could drive," Cerny said. "He gave it to me."

With the win, the Pippins take their second straight series and move to 4-2 in the second half. The Pippins will travel to Bend to take on the Elks in a three game weekend series before rolling into the All-Star Break. First pitch on Friday at 6:35.