The Bellingham Bells defeated the NW Star Nighthawks by a final score of 3-1 on Wednesday night. It was a 1-1 game in the 8th inning before Bellingham took the lead for good.

The Nighthawks jumped on starter Trevin Hope (3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) in the first inning, scoring one run on three singles. Hope answered back with two perfect innings before being relieved in the short start. Those three hits were the only three in the game for the Nighthawks, with the bullpen allowing just three baserunners over the final six innings. Justin Tucker (3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) and James Spickelmier (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K) pitched the middle innings, Connor Portugal (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) earned the win after pitching the 8th, and Hunter Alberini (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) locked down the save. For his efforts, Alberini also earned Player of the Game honors.

Bellingham struggled to generate much offense in the first half of the game, with just three hits through the first six innings. Ty Saunders tied the game in the bottom of the 4th on a bases-loaded RBI sac fly. The score held at 1-1 until the 8th inning, where Emilio Corona led off with a double. Nick McLain advanced him to third on a groundout, and Bennett Lee scored him on a 2-out RBI single. Lee came around to score on a broken-bat infield RBI by Malakhi Knight. Lee was the only Bell with multiple hits in the game, going 2-2 with two runs scored.

In total, the Bells left five runners on base and struck out five times, compared to six and eleven for the Nighthawks.

Bellingham will be back in action on Friday night to take on the Ridgefield Raptors at Joe Martin Field for a cross-division showdown. First pitch is set for 6:35, and you can get tickets at www.bellstickets.com.