All went quiet as Ryan Higgins stared down Zane Garvey from the pitchers mound. 

“Let’s end this,” boomed the announcer’s crackling voice around the stadium. 

Higgins’ leg went up and the ball flew across home plate. The bat cracked as Garvey got a piece of it, but his reach was too far and the ball fell right to a player in dark blue who collected it and stepped on first base. 

The crowd was quiet for a second before erupting as the home team jumped up and down around Higgins. 

Facing a frenetic crowd, the Corvallis Knights baseball team lost 6-7 against the Portland Pickles at Walker Stadium in Portland on Wednesday. 

The previous match-up between the two teams on Tuesday ended 13-3 for the Knights, with Arlo Pendleton throwing six strikeouts in four innings pitched. 

This game told a different story. 

The Pickles (14-15) started off the game with a defensive masterclass, made swift work in the first inning, getting three consecutive outs and not allowing Corvallis (17-15) any runners on base. 

Portland continued to dominate offensively, with two Pickles sliding to steal second to leave the bases loaded after a few errant pitches from Knight pitcher and West Coast League All Star Morgan Codron. 

The Knights found their footing before the Pickles could capitalize on the loaded bases, with Codron adding a strikeout to his stat sheet and outfielder Max Medina reaching to snatch a drive to center field. 

The Knights found the base after UC Santa Barbara freshman Ryan Severns got a double with a drive to right field at the top of the second. Catcher Carter Stewart brought Severns home. 

A back-and-forth followed Severn’s run with the Pickles finding the base twice, including a home run from first baseman MD Conner, before the Knights tied it up again at 2-2.

A sliding Cody Nitowitz extended the Pickles’ lead after a wild pitch from right-handed pitcher Cooper Markham. 

But just as it seemed the Pickles were running away with it, the Knights fought back. 

A homer by Ian Draper in the top of the sixth brought the Knights within one run, biting at the heels of the Pickles’ 5-4 lead. 

When the Pickles started to pull away again, Draper sunk another homer to make it 6-7. 

A standout ninth inning performance from Higgins dashed the Knights’ dream for a comeback, where he threw two strikeouts to finish the game. 

The Knights will finish their three-game series against the Pickles on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.