Knights edge Bells 2-1 behind strong pitching from Grant Taylor, Jake Vargas

Friday, July 30, Bellingham, Wash. – The WCL South leading Corvallis Knights topped the Bellingham Bells at Joe Martin Field 2-1 behind a strong starting effort by Washington State’s Grant Taylor and relief performance by Jake Vargas of Cal State Fullerton.

In the series opener between the two rivals, Taylor tossed 7 innings allowing only one run and three hits while striking out 9.

Rising sophomore pitcher Jake Vargas tossed two scoreless innings to record the save. The right-hander did not allow a hit and struck out 4.

Corvallis scored twice in the top of the seventh, with the game-winning RBI coming off the bat of shortstop Riley Way of Lewis-Clark State, a sacrifice fly plating the Knights second run. The rally was started with a walk to Kiko Romero of Central Arizona and a single by Taison Corio of Cal Poly to put runners at the corners with no outs.

With the win, Corvallis has won eight straight and improved their WCL record to 29-8 and overall mark to 37-10.

Game two of the series is slated for Saturday night at Joe Martin. First pitch is 6:35 pm. The Knights probable starting pitcher is rising sophomore southpaw Drew Dowd of Stanford.

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