Clutch double by Torres keys 4-2 win over Elks.

Nick Torres (pictured) put Corvallis up 3-2 with a two-run double and Greg Mahle got a two-inning save as the Knights won Game 1 of the key five-game series.

Torres drilled his two-bagger over the third-base bag with two outs in the last of the sixth to score Connor Hofmann and Caleb Whalen with the tying and go-ahead runs. Hofmann made the rally possible by legging out a routine grounder to second for an infield single; Whalen then walked to set up Torres, a sophomore-to-be at Cal Poly.

"I've been working on trying to relax, and to stop thinking so much," Torres said.

Torres has not yet hit for average (.218), but his 19 hits have been productive. Nine are for extra bases; his eight doubles lead the team and he has 15 RBIs, three behind Whalen's team-high 18.

An RBI single by catcher Austin Barr scored Whalen with a key insurance run in the eighth. Mahle retired six of the seven Elks he faced � three on strikeouts � for his second save.

The Knights (21-14 WCL, 23-14 overall) increased their lead over the second place Elks (16-16- WCL) to 3.5 games. They are 4-0 vs. the Elks this summer.

"Winning the first game is really huge, especially since Bend is in second place," Torres said. "It really sets the tone."

Bend's Will Sparks rocked Knights' starter Dylan Stuart for a two-run double in the first but that's all the Elks could muster. Stuart pitched three more scoreless innings, AJ Burke had a scoreless sixth and seventh and Mahle finished up.

Catcher Dane Lund drove in the Knights' first run in the third with their first hit.

The crowd of 1,375 upped the season's attendance to 23,532 in 19 dates. The Knights are 114 fans ahead of last year's pace, when they drew a franchise-record 44,447.

The five-game series resumes at Bend on Monday and Tuesday nights and concludes at Goss Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday nights. UC Riverside right-hander Trevor Frank (0-0, 0.77) and Oregon State lefty Carlos Rodriguez (2-0, 2.03) are the Knights' projected starting pitchers in Bend.