Corvallis beats Bells 3-2 to earn series win.

Kyle Cruikshank and Mark Samuelson homered to lead Corvallis to a 3-2 victory over the Bellingham Bells Wednesday night. Knights starter JR Murphy of San Diego State pitched 6 solid innings allowing only one run. Murphy's 16-inning scoreless streak was broken in the third inning. The right-hander from Truckee, California has logged 20 innings over 3 starts and is sporting a miniscule 0.45 ERA.

Sophomore rightfielder Kyle Cruikshank of Golden West College gave the Knights a 2-1 lead with a solo homer in the fifth. The Bells tied it with a run in the 7th off Knights' reliever Brad Kidd of BYU. Redshirt frosh first baseman Mark Samuelson delivered the game-winner in the bottom of the 7th inning with his second homerun of the season. Reliever Kevin Castner of Cal Poly SLO was impressive in his Knights debut as Castner recorded a hold as he threw a scoreless eighth while striking out 2. Cruikshank closed things out in the ninth to record his first save.

"It's great. It was amazing. I like to hit hanging curve balls like the one I hit tonight," said Cruikshank when asked how he felt about his big homerun.

With the win, the Knights improved their overall record to 9-2 and league mark to 5-0. The Knights pitching staff has only allowed 3 runs in 5 league games.

"We only had a few hits tonight, but the ones we got counted. I think we're just scratching the surface offensively right now," head coach Matt Dorey said. "I don't think I am going to switch things up. We're 5-0 in league play. If it's not broke don't fix it."

"Rocky's doing a great job for us. When Erik (Ammon) gets back we're going to have two strong catchers to work with," said Dorey. "It will be good to have Erik to give Rocky a break after playing so many games in a row."

Wednesday night's attendance was 257 on a cold night at Goss.

Oregon State infielder Brett Casey was in tonight's lineup after arriving late (from Omaha) on Tuesday.

"It's cool. I'm a little rusty. I haven't played in a while. But I'm glad I'm here," said Brett Casey after his first game with the Corvallis Knights this season.

WCCBL co-Player of the Week Jerad Thompson of Mt. Hood CC is scheduled to start on Thursday.

The Corvallis Knights rescheduled their ZOOperstars appearance. The ZOOperstars will make it out on Thursday, July 26. Make plans to be there.