The Black Bears are on the road for the fourth straight weekend to take on the Corvallis Knights at Goss Stadium.
The Knights swept Cowlitz at David Story Field back on June 17-19 in their first series of the season, dropping the Bears to 4-11 at the time. Since that series, the Black Bears have won three of five, currently in the middle of a three-game interleague series against the Port Angeles Lefties.
Both of the first two games have been close. Cowlitz came back from down four in game one, with a five-run bottom of the fifth led by a Gavin Poffenroth two-RBI single and a two-run HR by Finnegan Stewart. They would score two in the bottom of the ninth on a Will Jesske walk-off single to win it.
Game two almost had the Bears pull off another comeback, scoring five in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at six, but allowed four Lefties to score in the 11th and lost game two.
Poffenroth is still leading the Bears with a .362 AVG, still on fire after a 5-9 start to this series. Jarett Sabol is on a four-game hitting streak since his clutch HR won game one of the doubleheader against Springfield on Sunday. Cowlitz came into this series without any triples on the year, but have hit three in their past two games, one each from Poffenroth, Stewart and Paxton Bigby.
Brady Culp is off to a good start with Cowlitz, throwing 5.1 scoreless innings to start his Bears career. Bryson Leach threw five innings for his second straight start on Tuesday. Cameron Fausset has also had a good start to his season, with 5 IP only giving up one run, including three scoreless frames in relief on Tuesday.
After the series at Goss, the Black Bears will head to Ridgefield for just one game against the Raptors before going to Portland to face the Pickles in three games. The Knights will head to Salem and play the Marion Berries in one game before a three-game home series against Bend.
Don’t miss out on any of our exclusive promotions! Join the Black Bears on Friday, July 4, as we celebrate America’s birthday with FREE general admission tickets, thanks to Safeway Albertson’s Nourishing Neighbors Program. Fans will be able to claim their FREE general admission tickets as we get closer to the game. Sunday, July 6, is the second Kids In Free Sunday of the season, as all kids 12 and under will get in for FREE when accompanied by a paid adult.
Corvallis is 4-1 since their series against Cowlitz, having swept the Ridgefield Raptors at the RORC. They are in the midst of a three-game series in Yakima against the Pippins. Like the Bears, they are facing a rubber match tonight, having won convincingly 16-5 in game one but fallen in game two 6-3. The offense is led by Gavin Brubaker and Maddox Riske, who both tore up the Bears’ pitching staff in their first series, combining to go 12-26 in three games against Cowlitz. The pitching staff is led by Easton Jones and J’Shawn Unger, both of whom started against the Bears last week. They threw 12 IP combined, only giving up 2 ER and 6 hits.
The Knights-Black Bears series begins on Friday at 6:35 p.m. at Goss Stadium. Game two on Saturday will also be at 6:35 and Sunday’s finale will begin at 5:05 p.m. For more information about upcoming games, stats, or tickets, follow us on social media: X (Twitter) (@CowlitzBBears), Facebook, and Instagram (@cowlitzblackbears). To watch, listen live, or view the 2025 promotional schedule, go to our website, cowlitzblackbears.com.