Beatty shuts down Bells, evens series.

Corvallis pitcher Max Beatty (pictured) held the Bellingham offense in check for six innings and the bullpen finished the job in a 3-1 victory.

The Knights (25-14, 23-14 WCL) evened the West Coast League series by quieting a Bellingham (18-17) offense that erupted for 16 runs and 18 hits in Monday's opener. Beatty struck out five without a walk and allowed five hits and an unearned run to win his fifth game in six decisions.

Relievers Mitch Patito, Scott Schultz and Ben Wetzler closed it out with a scoreless inning apiece. It was the second save for Wetzler, a rising sophomore at Oregon State who earlier Tuesday was named to the WCL all-star team.

Corey Moore homered and doubled and David Armendariz added an RBI double for the Knights, who maintained their one-game lead over Bend in the West Division. Corvallis is 9-2 since being swept by the Elks on July 3-5.

The Knights took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a walk to Moore, a double by Armendariz and an error. Moore made it 3-0 in the sixth with his first homer of the season. He has three doubles, a triple and a homer in his last seven games.

Bellingham scored an unearned run in the sixth. Patito and Schultz each stranded a runner in the seventh and eighth, respectively, and Wetzler worked a 1-2-3 ninth. Wetzler still has not allowed a run in 13 innings over nine appearances.

The series concludes at 7:05 tonight. The projected starters are Chase Johnson (1-1, 2.82) for the Knights and Kyle Schepel (1-3, 3.82) the Bells. The Knights are idle on Thursday and host Cowlitz at 6:40 p.m. on Friday in their next home game.