The Corvallis Knights have a storied history playing at Goss Stadium. Ever since the founding of the West Coast League in 2005, the Knights have won nine West Coast League championships and are going for their seventh consecutive league championship this season.

The West Coast League powerhouse currently has six active players in the MLB, including notable Oregon State alumni Adley Rutschman (C, 2016) and Nick Madrigal (2B, 2015). 

Other notable MLB players who played for the Knights are former 2018 AL all-star outfielder for the San Francisco Giants Mitch Haniger (2010), former Oregon State pitcher and current Detroit Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd (2010), and Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan (2016), who played for the Beavers national championship team in 2018.   

In their franchise history, the Knights have had 27 players make it to the Major League, according to their website. The team has also been named Perfect Game’s national summer collegiate team of the year in 2019 and 2021.

The Knights culture of winning is part of why Oregon State freshman infielder Jacob Krieg chose to play his summer ball in Corvallis this year.  

 “I think having a competitive mindset is huge, and playing for a team like the Knights with its winning culture will help prepare me for next spring,” Krieg said. 

Krieg is a two-way player, making appearances both on the mound and at the plate for the Beavers this past season. Krieg hit .333 with a home run last spring and also posted a 4.50 ERA in four innings of work. However, Krieg said that “this summer he is mainly focused on getting reps at first base.”  

Three fellow Beavers are also playing for the Knights this summer, including pitchers Joey Mundt and Sam Stuhr and outfielder Tyree Reed. Stuhr played for the Knights in 2021, where he had a 3.38 ERA while pitching 10.2 innings on the mound.  

In recent history, current Oregon State star second baseman Travis Bazzana hit a remarkable .429 for the Corvallis Knights in 2021, with a .471 on-base percentage. The 2021 Knights squad also featured Arizona Wildcats infielder Kiko Romero, who was on top of the PAC-12 home run leaderboard this past season with 21 home runs.  

The four Beavers on the 2023 roster will be in a familiar atmosphere this summer, as the Corvallis Knights play at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field, just like the Oregon State Beavers.  For Krieg, this is another upside for him.  

“Playing at Goss will never get old,” Krieg said. “There is so much legacy behind it, and it always draws good crowds because of this awesome community of Corvallis.”  

The 2023 West Coast League season got underway in May, and the Knights currently sit in second place in the South Division of the West Coast League with a 9-6 record. The Knights are just half a game behind the Ridgefield Raptors in the South Division standings.  

Coming up next, the Knights will open a three-game away series against the Kelowna Falcons on July 3. There is a long way to go in the season for the Knights and Krieg, as the West Coast League playoffs are scheduled to begin in early August.

“I look forward to spending my summer in Corvallis with my new and fellow teammates,” Krieg said. “It’s gonna be a long season that will be full of lessons. It’s an honor to play for a prestigious program that is chasing its seventh league title in a row.”